Burnt by the Sun - Author's Notes

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NIKITA MIKHALKOV ON

"BURNT BY THE SUN"

"Burnt By the Sun" doesn't want to judge an era, but wants to make its tragic dimension felt. It also tells that the perpetual charm of Existence lingers, even in these bloody times, with its passions, its loves.

We can't and we don't have the right to ignore the history of our country! Even though it's difficult to recognize that it's about us, about our past.

The film's heroes are not seen through the revolutionary prism of class struggles, but they're at the core of a tragedy, of which they are the authors and actors at the same time. That's what gives the film its unity.

Repentance is a duty for all those who have lived in this era and who are still alive today. Without Repentance there will be no peace or rest in Russia.

Personally, I think that all the governments since 1917 have been illegitimate, because they have achieved power by means of blood and violence.

Our film is dedicated to the victims, to all those who were burnt by the "betraying sun" of the revolution.

I shot this film very quickly because I wanted my six year-old daughter to play the role of Nadia, a little girl who is exactly her age. Children grow quickly and lose the tenderness, the simplicity, and the charm their youth carries.

I never play big parts in my films. It's too risky to write the script, to direct, and to play a leading role.

But this time, I've run the risk......


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Last modified 15-August-1995.