I watched the first 'Burnt by The Sun' years ago, not being aware it is the prelude of a trilogy. Then I saw it again, motivated by a discussion with a friend and it was enough of an incentive to follow up its sequels.
It might be too soon after watching it to be truly objective but the story still has a hold on me and I can't wait to see its further development. There are times when I even forget to read the subtitles, but the movie still plays before my eyes and in my head. The fact that the script abides or not by the rules of Hollywood dogma is of little importance to me. Many great movies don't. It is rather a chance to see if the picture really grabs you or not. And what I see is a beautiful, graceful and subtle movie that leaves me no time to yawn or chew popcorn. Not a movie for people with the attention span of a golden fish. It relies heavily on the relation with the first part of the story, whatever knowledge you might have of the communism and your emotional intelligence.
As a citizen of a country that was 'liberated' by the Red Army and upon which the Soviet Union bestowed the unwanted gift of communism I was paradoxically raised with neither hatred towards the Russian people nor with the forced love for them. So, when I say I love N. Michalkov with all my heart after watching most of his movies, it really means something. War clichés? Maybe, but expertly done. Things that don't add up? Eastern peoples are much more used to symbols instead of sanitized narrations of quantifiable facts. It's just how our brains work and we are not ashamed of it. Characters might not exist as depicted? That never stopped anyone from telling a story, but you may as well picture them as merging together lots of real experiences. Goofy moments? Great irony.
One last thing that accounts for a lot of hate. In Soviet Union and some other countries (my own included) communism relied also on exacerbated nationalistic feelings. Some people will never recover from that while they still draw breath. Ironically, the main character psychological drama is based upon the fact that he accepts his fate because he 'loves his country'.
So, those of you who get this movie, it can be like our private joke. Those of you who don't... Well, who cares about you anyway.
It might be too soon after watching it to be truly objective but the story still has a hold on me and I can't wait to see its further development. There are times when I even forget to read the subtitles, but the movie still plays before my eyes and in my head. The fact that the script abides or not by the rules of Hollywood dogma is of little importance to me. Many great movies don't. It is rather a chance to see if the picture really grabs you or not. And what I see is a beautiful, graceful and subtle movie that leaves me no time to yawn or chew popcorn. Not a movie for people with the attention span of a golden fish. It relies heavily on the relation with the first part of the story, whatever knowledge you might have of the communism and your emotional intelligence.
As a citizen of a country that was 'liberated' by the Red Army and upon which the Soviet Union bestowed the unwanted gift of communism I was paradoxically raised with neither hatred towards the Russian people nor with the forced love for them. So, when I say I love N. Michalkov with all my heart after watching most of his movies, it really means something. War clichés? Maybe, but expertly done. Things that don't add up? Eastern peoples are much more used to symbols instead of sanitized narrations of quantifiable facts. It's just how our brains work and we are not ashamed of it. Characters might not exist as depicted? That never stopped anyone from telling a story, but you may as well picture them as merging together lots of real experiences. Goofy moments? Great irony.
One last thing that accounts for a lot of hate. In Soviet Union and some other countries (my own included) communism relied also on exacerbated nationalistic feelings. Some people will never recover from that while they still draw breath. Ironically, the main character psychological drama is based upon the fact that he accepts his fate because he 'loves his country'.
So, those of you who get this movie, it can be like our private joke. Those of you who don't... Well, who cares about you anyway.