Burnt By the Sun The Film Companion

by Beumers, Birgit

• ISBN13: 9781860643965
• ISBN10: 1860643965
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2001-03-21
• Publisher: I. B. Tauris & Company

Summary

Nikita Mikhalkov's film about the Stalin period has received wide attention inside and outside Russia, being shown at Cannes, winning an Oscar, and reaching cinemas worldwide. Mikhalkov is a fine and controversial director, and this KINOfile is a valuable introduction to his work. It investigates the production, context, and critical reception of the film, the people who made it, and provides an analysis of the film itself and its place in Russian and world cinema.

Author Biography

Birgit Beumers is a Lecturer at the University of Bristol.

Table of Contents

Illustrations	vi
Acknowledgements	viii
Note on Transliteration	ix
Credits	x
Introduction	1	(6)
Plot Synopsis and Summary	7	(6)
The Film in Frames	13	(46)
The Film and its Themes	59	(45)
Historical Background: Fact v. Fiction	59	(6)
Binary Oppositions	65	(12)
Characters and Relationships	77	(13)
Images and Mirror-images	90	(9)
Music	99	(2)
The Players	101	(3)
The Film and its Context	104	(10)
Reassessing the Past: the Stalin Period in Recent Cinema	104	(7)
Mikhalkov and the Past	111	(3)
The Film in the Mirror of the Press	114	(17)
From Script to Film	114	(1)
In the Shadow of the Golden Palm	115	(2)
Reviews and Rhetoric	117	(6)
Dissonant Voices	123	(2)
Professional Critics	125	(3)
The Question of Guilt: Who is to Blame?	128	(3)
Conclusion	131	(2)
Further Reading	133