Like most film lovers I prize invention, originality and formal daring. BURNT BY THE SUN is a very conservative historical epic, full of sweeping scenes paralelling intimate domestic exchanges; theatrical framings and acting with lots of dialogue; Jarre-esque sugary Romantic music; a fetishisation of nature.
Nevertheless, I loved this film to bits, for all these reasons. it was as rich as a novel (although it is an original), yet full of the vibrancy, life, violence, anger, and comedy absent from most literary adaptations. There is also a sense of using a cliched mode to attack its assumptions, as Chekhovian comedy turns into a denunciation of totalitarianism, and a more absurdist register.
Mikhalkov's filming of a superficially ugly Russia is lyrical and emotionally charged, and his own performance is like watching an oak tree being systematically hacked, sublime in its reach. Packed with memorable, searing set-pieces, but the filming of Marusya's confusion on Mitya's return, or his story to Nadya, shot with Nicholas Ray's feel for decor, stand out for me.
Nevertheless, I loved this film to bits, for all these reasons. it was as rich as a novel (although it is an original), yet full of the vibrancy, life, violence, anger, and comedy absent from most literary adaptations. There is also a sense of using a cliched mode to attack its assumptions, as Chekhovian comedy turns into a denunciation of totalitarianism, and a more absurdist register.
Mikhalkov's filming of a superficially ugly Russia is lyrical and emotionally charged, and his own performance is like watching an oak tree being systematically hacked, sublime in its reach. Packed with memorable, searing set-pieces, but the filming of Marusya's confusion on Mitya's return, or his story to Nadya, shot with Nicholas Ray's feel for decor, stand out for me.