Sunstroke (2014 film)


Sunstroke is a 2014 Russian drama film directed by Nikita Mikhalkov, starring Martinsh Kalita and Viktoriya Solovyova. It is set in Russian Empire during the Red Terror in 1920, with flashbacks to 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.

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. One of them — an unnamed poruchik — 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:

Music

The musical score for Sunstroke was composed by Eduard Artemyev, who has collaborated with Mikhalkov on numerous movies.
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", 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", performed by Mikhalkov himself, backed by the Kuban Cossack Choir. This song has been already used by the director; in his 1979 film Five Evenings it was sung by the Stanislav Lyubshin character.

Release

The world premiere took place on October 3, 2014 in Belgrade, Republic of Serbia.
The premiere of the film in the Russian Federation took place on October 4, 2014; the film was released in wide distribution on October 9, 2014. The television premiere took place on November 4, 2014 on the Russia-1 television channel. In 2015, the Russia-1 channel premiered the 5-episode version of the film Sunstroke.