"Burnt by the Sun 2: Exodus" is a 2010 Russian war drama directed by Mikhalkov Nikita, the second part of the "Burnt by the Sun" trilogy. It stars Nikita Mikhalkov, Nadezhda Mikhalkova, and Oleg Menshikov. The film continues the story of Divisional Commander Kotov during the Great Patriotic War. The key filming locations were in Nizhny Novgorod Region, mainly in Pavlovsky District.[1][2]

About the film

The story unfolds in 1941–1943: Divisional Commander Kotov, who survived the repressions, finds himself in the thick of the war. In parallel, the fate of his daughter Nadya is traced. The film was conceived as the first of two parts of a sequel to the original 1994 film, which won an Academy Award and the Grand Prix of the Cannes Film Festival; the second part, "Burnt by the Sun 2: The Citadel," was released in 2011.

The film features actor Ivan Skitsan, a native of the urban-type settlement of Syava in Nizhny Novgorod Region, who graduated from the Nizhny Novgorod Theater School named after Evstigneev in 2008.[3]

Filming in Nizhny Novgorod Region

The film crew worked in Nizhny Novgorod Region starting in 2005.[1][2] The main locations were:

  • The village of Polyany (near Gorbatov, Pavlovsky District). Here a Belarusian village from the time of the Great Patriotic War was recreated for the film: a barn and plank fences were built, houses were aged, and the streets were filled with vehicles and actors in German uniforms.[1][2]
  • Pavlovsky District (the area around the village of Nizkovo). Sets were also built here for the third part of the trilogy, "The Citadel": a massive fortress of concrete, wood, and plaster, partly destroyed by explosions in the final scenes; the explosions were so powerful that houses in Gorbatov shook. The ruins of the fortress remained at the filming site after production was completed.[1][2]

Mikhalkov chose Pavlovsky District for a reason: back in the 1990s he had filmed The Barber of Siberia here, and he later built an estate near the village of Shchepachikha.[1][2]

Release and reception

The Russian premiere took place on April 17, 2010. Box office receipts for the opening weekend came to about $3.7 million against a stated budget of about $55 million, which led observers to speak of the film's commercial failure in the domestic market.[4] State Duma deputy Nikolay Ryabov of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation (KPRF) initiated a request to audit the spending of public funds on the film's production; on May 21, 2010, the Duma declined to send the request to the Ministry of Culture — according to a statement by Elena Drapeko, deputy chair of the Duma's Committee on Culture, the Accounts Chamber had already conducted an audit and found no violations.[4]

Sources

  1. kino.mail.ru — Where the "Burnt by the Sun" trilogy was filmed: the cities and locations where key scenes were shot (archive)
  2. news.mail.ru — Where filmmakers love to shoot in Central Russia
  3. aif.ru — Actor from "Burnt by the Sun 2" Ivan Skitsan dies at 39 — Argumenty i Fakty
  4. bublik.delfi.ee — The finances of "Burnt by the Sun 2" will not be audited — Bublik