Sunstroke (2014 film)

Sunstroke
Russian film poster
Directed by Nikita Mikhalkov
Produced by Leonid Vereshchagin
Screenplay by Vladimir Moiseyenko
Nikita Mikhalkov
Aleksandr Adabashyan
Based on Sunstroke and
Cursed Days
by Ivan Bunin
Starring Mārtiņš Kalita
Victoria Solovyova
Miloš Biković
Music by Eduard Artemyev
Cinematography Vladislav Opelyants
Edited by Svetolik Zajc
Production
company
TriTe
Distributed by DreamTeam Media
Release date
  • 3 October 2014 (2014-10-03) (Serbia)
  • 9 October 2014 (2014-10-09) (Russia)
Running time
 180 minutes
Country Russia
Language Russian
Budget $21 million
Box office $1,693,797[1]

Sunstroke (Russian: Солнечный удар; translit. Solnechnyy udar) is a 2014 drama film by Russian director Nikita Mikhalkov. It is set in Russia during the Red Terror in 1920 and in 1907, and is loosely based on the story Sunstroke and the book Cursed Days by Nobel Prize-winning Russian writer Ivan Bunin. The film was selected as the Russian entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 88th Academy Awards but it was not nominated.[2]

Plot

The story is set in a prisoner-of-war camp in November 1920, in the Crimea, after the evacuation of the White Army, with several thousand of White officers left behind on the peninsula. The officers are unaware of their impending doom, waiting for their fate to be decided by the Red Army officials.[3] One of them — an unnamed poruchik (Mārtiņš Kalita) — is haunted by the memories of a dramatic and brief love affair occurred in 1907, and tries to understand how the Russian Empire fell apart and who is to blame. His musing comes to an end when all the White officers board an old barge, which the Reds take down in the Black Sea, and all officers perish.

Cast

In order of appearance in main titles:

  • Mārtiņš Kalita – Poruchik (i.e. Lieutenant)
  • Victoria Solovyova – Beautiful Stranger
  • Miloš Biković – Baron Nikolay Alexandrovich Gulbe-Levitsky (Koka), a Podporuchik (i.e. Second Lieutenant) of the Life Guard Uhlan Regiment of Her Majesty
  • Anastasiya Imamova – Tatyana
  • Avangard Leontiev – Fakir (prestidigitator)
  • Sergei Karpov – Egoriy (Georgiy Sergeevich as a child)
  • Aleksandr Adabashyan – Photographer
  • Kirill Boltaev – Yesaul (i.e. Cossack Captain)
  • Aleksandr Michkov – Junker (i.e. Cadet)
  • Alexei Dyakin – Georgiy Sergeevich (Egoriy as an adult)
  • Vitaliy Kishchenko – Cavalry Captain
  • Miriam Sekhon – Rosalia Zemlyachka
  • Sergey Bachurskiy – Béla Kun
  • Aleksandr Ustyugov – Navy Officer
  • Vladimir Yumatov – Colonel

Production

Music

The musical score for Sunstroke was composed by Eduard Artemyev, who has collaborated with Mikhalkov on numerous movies (At Home Among Strangers, An Unfinished Piece for a Player Piano, Burnt by the Sun, The Barber of Siberia, etc.).

A leading tune accompanying Lieutenant's romantic feelings – toward his bride and the beautiful stranger – is a popular mezzo-soprano aria from Camille Saint-Saëns's opera Samson and Delilah called "Mon cœur s'ouvre à ta voix" ("My heart opens itself to your voice"), sung by Delilah as she attempts to seduce Samson into revealing the secret of his strength.

Also included in the soundtrack is the version of Nikolai Devitte's romance "Ne Dlya Menya" (Not for Me), performed by Mikhalkov himself, backed by the Kuban Cossack Choir.[4] This song has been already used by the director; in his 1979 film Five Evenings it was sung by the Stanislav Lyubshin character.[5]

See also

References

  1. ↑ ""Солнечный удар"". KinoPoisk. Retrieved 7 November 2014.
  2. ↑ Holdsworth, Nick (22 September 2015). "Oscars: Russia Nominates 'Sunstroke' for Foreign-Language Category". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 22 September 2015.
  3. ↑ Werth, Nicolas (21 March 2008). "Crimes and Mass Violence of the Russian Civil Wars (1918–1921)". Online Encyclopedia of Mass Violence. ISSN 1961-9898. Retrieved 17 November 2014.
  4. ↑ Kondrashov, Alexander. Не для меня. Literaturnaya Gazeta review. No. 45, 2014
  5. ↑ Milova, Evgenya. Направление удара. www.kommersant.ru
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