White Sun of the Desert
Encyclopedia
White Sun of the Desert (1969), a classic 'Eastern' or Ostern
film of the Soviet Union
.
The film is one of the most popular Russian films of all time. Its blend of action, comedy, music and drama has made it wildly successful and it has since achieved the status of a cult film
in Soviet and Russian culture. The film has contributed many sayings to the Russian language (see below). Its main theme song, "Your Honor Lady Luck" (Ваше благородие, госпожа Удача, music: Isaak Schwarz, lyrics: Bulat Okudzhava
, performed by Pavel Luspekaev) became a huge hit. The film is ritually watched by cosmonauts before many space launches.
, said such films as Stagecoach and High Noon
influenced him and he has described the film as being a "cocktail" of both an adventurous Russian folktale and a western
. Initially several directors, including Andrei Tarkovsky
and Andrei Konchalovsky, were offered the film but they turned it down, Motyl claims, for two main reasons. Firstly, Konchalovsky thought only American
actors could pull off the part of a lead role in a western, and secondly the screenplay was considered weak. Motyl was offered the screenplay and decided to make the best of his chance. He consequently rewrote a large part of the screenplay, and all the dialogue for Pavel Luspekaev's character, Vereshchagin, was written immediately before shooting began. The screenwriter
s published a book under the same title. A Russian computer game was released based on the film. In 1998, the creators of the film were awarded the 1997 Russian Federation State Prize in Literature and Arts, nearly 30 years after the film left the silver screen.
(modern Turkmenistan
) where the Red Army
soldier Fyodor Sukhov has been fighting the Civil War
in Russian Asia for a number of years. The movie opens with a panoramic shot of a bucolic Russian countryside. Katerina Matveyevna, Sukhov's beloved wife, is standing in a field. Awakening from this daydream, Sukhov is walking through the Central Asian desert – a stark contrast to his homeland. He finds Sayid buried in the sand. Sayid, an austere Central Asian, will come to Sukhov's rescue in sticky situations throughout the movie. Sukhov frees Sayid, and they strike a friendly but reticent relationship. While traveling together they are caught up in a desert fight between a Red Army cavalry unit and Basmachi guerrillas. The cavalry unit commander, Rakhimov, "convinces" Sukhov to help, temporarily, with the protection of abandoned women of the Basmachi guerrilla leader Abdullah's harem. Leaving a young Red Army soldier, Petrukha, to assist Sukhov with the task, Rakhimov and his cavalry unit set out to pursue fleeing Abdullah.
Sukhov and women from Abdullah's harem return to a nearby shore town. There, Sukhov charges the village museum's curator with protecting the women, and prepares to continue home. Sukhov hopes to "modernize" the wives of the harem
, and make them part of the revolution. He urges them to take off their burqa
and reject polygamy
. The wives are loath to do this, though, and as Sukhov takes on the role of protector, the wives declare him their new husband. Sukhov continues to press for their modernization and liberation, while trying to imagine, in one of the film's most amusing episodes, himself at the head of the polygamous family back in Russia.
Soon, looking for a seaway across the border, Abdullah and his gang come to the same town and find Abdullah's wives. Sukhov is bound to stay. Hoping to obtain help and weapons to fight Abdullah's gang, Sukhov and Petrukha visit Paul Vereschagin, a former Tsar's customs official who has begun drinking. Vereschagin lives a lonely life as the only Russian, along with his wife, living in an isolated border town. His glory days are behind him: the walls are covered with pictures of Vereschagin from the military campaigns he fought in and was awarded and wounded. The Civil War has left him without an official job and without a place to go. He warms to Petrukha who obviously reminds him of his own son who died young. Sukhov and Petrukha solicit his help, but after discussing the matter with his nagging wife, Vereschagin refuses. Luckily, Sukhov finds a case of dynamite on which some old men from the village have been resting. Sukhov plants the dynamite on Abdullah's ship in the Caspian Sea. Meanwhile, Abdullah has confronted his wives, and is preparing to punish them for their dishonor – they did not kill themselves when Abdullah left them. Sukhov takes Abdullah hostage while Abdullah is with his wives. Once Sukhov has left, though, Abdullah escapes, killing Petrukha and Gyulchatai, the youngest wife of the harem.
The museum curator shows Sukhov an underground passage dating back to the Samanid
dynasty that leads to the sea. Sukhov and the women of the harem attempt to escape through the passage, but on arriving at the seashore they are impelled to hide in a large empty oil tank. Abdullah discovers their hiding place, and plans on setting the oil tank on fire.
Enraged at the cold-hearted murder of Petrukha, Vereschagin decides to help Sukhov and takes Abdullah's ship after locking his wife inside their house. Sayid also helps Sukhov, and together they fend off Abdullah's gang. Vereschagin, ignorant of the dynamite on the ship and not hearing Sukhov's shouted warnings, tragically kills himself on the exploding ship.
Sukhov kills Abdullah and his gang, and returns the harem to Rakhimov. He then begins his trek home on foot, having refused a horse since a horse is merely "a nuisance". Whether Sukhov will make it home to his beloved Katerina is unclear: the revolution is not over in Central Asia, and as an exemplary Red Army soldier like Sukhov may well be needed.
. These songs are often just a voice and guitar, with the music drawing on traditional Russian folk music.
"Your Honor, Lady Luck", sung by Vereschagin accompanied by a guitar, is a musical motif in the film. The lyrics talk about loneliness, humanity’s dependence on luck, and hope for love. These lyrics mirror many of the film's central themes, including Vereschagin's sadness and Sukhov's separation from Katerina.
"White Sun of the Desert" did not receive any rewards during the Soviet era. It lost the 1970 USSR State Prize to By The Lake
. It may have lost due to the slightly controversial tone of the film, which could be seen as implicitly poking fun at Soviet mythologizing of the Revolution and Civil War. But in 1998 it was awarded the state prize by president Boris Yeltsin, being recognized as culturally significant.
The film received limited attention in the West. It was shown at a Soviet film festival at the little Carnegie Theatre in 1973, meant to tie in with Brezhnev's visit to the United States. Other than that, it was not largely released. Roger Greenspun, the New York Times movie critic, referred to it as "escapist entertainment".
In 2008 Rustam Ibragimbekov announced that he had begun production on a White Sun of the Desert TV spinoff entitled "White Sun of the Desert – Home".
An Uzbek-themed restaurant in Moscow named itself after the film.
Many popular sayings have entered the Russian language
from the film. The first is by far the best known.
Ostern
The Ostern or Red Western was the Soviet Union and Eastern Bloc countries' take on the Western.It generally took two forms:...
film of the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
.
The film is one of the most popular Russian films of all time. Its blend of action, comedy, music and drama has made it wildly successful and it has since achieved the status of a cult film
Cult film
A cult film, also commonly referred to as a cult classic, is a film that has acquired a highly devoted but specific group of fans. Often, cult movies have failed to achieve fame outside the small fanbases; however, there have been exceptions that have managed to gain fame among mainstream audiences...
in Soviet and Russian culture. The film has contributed many sayings to the Russian language (see below). Its main theme song, "Your Honor Lady Luck" (Ваше благородие, госпожа Удача, music: Isaak Schwarz, lyrics: Bulat Okudzhava
Bulat Okudzhava
Bulat Shalvovich Okudzhava was a Soviet and Russian poet, writer, musician, novelist, and singer-songwriter. He was one of the founders of the Russian genre called "author song"...
, performed by Pavel Luspekaev) became a huge hit. The film is ritually watched by cosmonauts before many space launches.
History
The director, Vladimir MotylVladimir Motyl
Vladimir Yakovlevich Motyl was a Soviet and Russian film director and scenarist.Vladimir Motyl was born in Lepiel, Belarus. His father was a Polish émigré, who was arrested in 1930 and sent to Solovki and died there the following year. Many of his other relatives suffered similar treatment...
, said such films as Stagecoach and High Noon
High Noon
High Noon is a 1952 American Western film directed by Fred Zinnemann and starring Gary Cooper and Grace Kelly. The film tells in real time the story of a town marshal forced to face a gang of killers by himself...
influenced him and he has described the film as being a "cocktail" of both an adventurous Russian folktale and a western
Western (genre)
The Western is a genre of various visual arts, such as film, television, radio, literature, painting and others. Westerns are devoted to telling stories set primarily in the latter half of the 19th century in the American Old West, hence the name. Some Westerns are set as early as the Battle of...
. Initially several directors, including Andrei Tarkovsky
Andrei Tarkovsky
Andrei Arsenyevich Tarkovsky was a Soviet and Russian filmmaker, writer, film editor, film theorist, theatre and opera director, widely regarded as one of the finest filmmakers of the 20th century....
and Andrei Konchalovsky, were offered the film but they turned it down, Motyl claims, for two main reasons. Firstly, Konchalovsky thought only American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
actors could pull off the part of a lead role in a western, and secondly the screenplay was considered weak. Motyl was offered the screenplay and decided to make the best of his chance. He consequently rewrote a large part of the screenplay, and all the dialogue for Pavel Luspekaev's character, Vereshchagin, was written immediately before shooting began. The screenwriter
Screenwriter
Screenwriters or scriptwriters or scenario writers are people who write/create the short or feature-length screenplays from which mass media such as films, television programs, Comics or video games are based.-Profession:...
s published a book under the same title. A Russian computer game was released based on the film. In 1998, the creators of the film were awarded the 1997 Russian Federation State Prize in Literature and Arts, nearly 30 years after the film left the silver screen.
Plot
The setting is the east shore of the Caspian SeaCaspian Sea
The Caspian Sea is the largest enclosed body of water on Earth by area, variously classed as the world's largest lake or a full-fledged sea. The sea has a surface area of and a volume of...
(modern Turkmenistan
Turkmenistan
Turkmenistan , formerly also known as Turkmenia is one of the Turkic states in Central Asia. Until 1991, it was a constituent republic of the Soviet Union, the Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic . Turkmenistan is one of the six independent Turkic states...
) where the Red Army
Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army started out as the Soviet Union's revolutionary communist combat groups during the Russian Civil War of 1918-1922. It grew into the national army of the Soviet Union. By the 1930s the Red Army was among the largest armies in history.The "Red Army" name refers to...
soldier Fyodor Sukhov has been fighting the Civil War
Russian Civil War
The Russian Civil War was a multi-party war that occurred within the former Russian Empire after the Russian provisional government collapsed to the Soviets, under the domination of the Bolshevik party. Soviet forces first assumed power in Petrograd The Russian Civil War (1917–1923) was a...
in Russian Asia for a number of years. The movie opens with a panoramic shot of a bucolic Russian countryside. Katerina Matveyevna, Sukhov's beloved wife, is standing in a field. Awakening from this daydream, Sukhov is walking through the Central Asian desert – a stark contrast to his homeland. He finds Sayid buried in the sand. Sayid, an austere Central Asian, will come to Sukhov's rescue in sticky situations throughout the movie. Sukhov frees Sayid, and they strike a friendly but reticent relationship. While traveling together they are caught up in a desert fight between a Red Army cavalry unit and Basmachi guerrillas. The cavalry unit commander, Rakhimov, "convinces" Sukhov to help, temporarily, with the protection of abandoned women of the Basmachi guerrilla leader Abdullah's harem. Leaving a young Red Army soldier, Petrukha, to assist Sukhov with the task, Rakhimov and his cavalry unit set out to pursue fleeing Abdullah.
Sukhov and women from Abdullah's harem return to a nearby shore town. There, Sukhov charges the village museum's curator with protecting the women, and prepares to continue home. Sukhov hopes to "modernize" the wives of the harem
Harem
Harem refers to the sphere of women in what is usually a polygynous household and their enclosed quarters which are forbidden to men...
, and make them part of the revolution. He urges them to take off their burqa
Burqa
A burqa is an enveloping outer garment worn by women in some Islamic religion to cover their bodies in public places. The burqa is usually understood to be the woman's loose body-covering , plus the head-covering , plus the face-veil .-Etymology:A speculative and unattested etymology...
and reject polygamy
Polygamy
Polygamy is a marriage which includes more than two partners...
. The wives are loath to do this, though, and as Sukhov takes on the role of protector, the wives declare him their new husband. Sukhov continues to press for their modernization and liberation, while trying to imagine, in one of the film's most amusing episodes, himself at the head of the polygamous family back in Russia.
Soon, looking for a seaway across the border, Abdullah and his gang come to the same town and find Abdullah's wives. Sukhov is bound to stay. Hoping to obtain help and weapons to fight Abdullah's gang, Sukhov and Petrukha visit Paul Vereschagin, a former Tsar's customs official who has begun drinking. Vereschagin lives a lonely life as the only Russian, along with his wife, living in an isolated border town. His glory days are behind him: the walls are covered with pictures of Vereschagin from the military campaigns he fought in and was awarded and wounded. The Civil War has left him without an official job and without a place to go. He warms to Petrukha who obviously reminds him of his own son who died young. Sukhov and Petrukha solicit his help, but after discussing the matter with his nagging wife, Vereschagin refuses. Luckily, Sukhov finds a case of dynamite on which some old men from the village have been resting. Sukhov plants the dynamite on Abdullah's ship in the Caspian Sea. Meanwhile, Abdullah has confronted his wives, and is preparing to punish them for their dishonor – they did not kill themselves when Abdullah left them. Sukhov takes Abdullah hostage while Abdullah is with his wives. Once Sukhov has left, though, Abdullah escapes, killing Petrukha and Gyulchatai, the youngest wife of the harem.
The museum curator shows Sukhov an underground passage dating back to the Samanid
Samanid
The Samani dynasty , also known as the Samanid Empire, or simply Samanids was a Persian state and empire in Central Asia and Greater Iran, named after its founder Saman Khuda, who converted to Sunni Islam despite being from Zoroastrian theocratic nobility...
dynasty that leads to the sea. Sukhov and the women of the harem attempt to escape through the passage, but on arriving at the seashore they are impelled to hide in a large empty oil tank. Abdullah discovers their hiding place, and plans on setting the oil tank on fire.
Enraged at the cold-hearted murder of Petrukha, Vereschagin decides to help Sukhov and takes Abdullah's ship after locking his wife inside their house. Sayid also helps Sukhov, and together they fend off Abdullah's gang. Vereschagin, ignorant of the dynamite on the ship and not hearing Sukhov's shouted warnings, tragically kills himself on the exploding ship.
Sukhov kills Abdullah and his gang, and returns the harem to Rakhimov. He then begins his trek home on foot, having refused a horse since a horse is merely "a nuisance". Whether Sukhov will make it home to his beloved Katerina is unclear: the revolution is not over in Central Asia, and as an exemplary Red Army soldier like Sukhov may well be needed.
Soundtrack
The soundtrack to "White Sun of the Desert" is one of the most celebrated of Russian film. The score contains guitar music, balalaika and orchestral music. Many of the songs are inspired by the 1960’s urban song culture of metropolitan Russia, in the tradition of singers like Vladimir VysotskyVladimir Vysotsky
Vladimir Semyonovich Vysotsky was a Soviet singer, songwriter, poet, and actor whose career had an immense and enduring effect on Russian culture. He became widely known for his unique singing style and for his lyrics, which featured social and political commentary in often humorous street...
. These songs are often just a voice and guitar, with the music drawing on traditional Russian folk music.
"Your Honor, Lady Luck", sung by Vereschagin accompanied by a guitar, is a musical motif in the film. The lyrics talk about loneliness, humanity’s dependence on luck, and hope for love. These lyrics mirror many of the film's central themes, including Vereschagin's sadness and Sukhov's separation from Katerina.
Reception
"White Sun of the Desert" became one of the most popular movies made during the Soviet Union, and it has attained a cult status in Russia. In 1970 the film was the tenth most popular film of the year, with 34.5 million viewers. It helped popularize Ostern (or Eastern) movies."White Sun of the Desert" did not receive any rewards during the Soviet era. It lost the 1970 USSR State Prize to By The Lake
By the Lake
By the Lake is a two-part 1969 Soviet film directed by Sergei Gerasimov. In 1971 USSR State Prize for this film was awarded to Sergei Gerasimov, cinematographer Vladimir Rapoport, art director Pyotr Galadzhev, and the group of leading actors: Oleg Zhakov, Vasily Shukshin, Natalya...
. It may have lost due to the slightly controversial tone of the film, which could be seen as implicitly poking fun at Soviet mythologizing of the Revolution and Civil War. But in 1998 it was awarded the state prize by president Boris Yeltsin, being recognized as culturally significant.
The film received limited attention in the West. It was shown at a Soviet film festival at the little Carnegie Theatre in 1973, meant to tie in with Brezhnev's visit to the United States. Other than that, it was not largely released. Roger Greenspun, the New York Times movie critic, referred to it as "escapist entertainment".
Legacy
The Russian federal customs service erected a statue honoring Vereschagin, the film's celebrated customs officer, in Moscow.In 2008 Rustam Ibragimbekov announced that he had begun production on a White Sun of the Desert TV spinoff entitled "White Sun of the Desert – Home".
An Uzbek-themed restaurant in Moscow named itself after the film.
Popular quotes
Russian language
Russian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...
from the film. The first is by far the best known.
- The East is a delicate matter (Восток — дело тонкое); refers to any complicated or difficult matter, not necessarily "eastern" in nature.
- Are there questions? No, there aren't! (Вопросы есть? Вопросов нет!); refers to the commanding tone of an officer that will not hear objections to his command.
- Customs gives the green light ("Таможня дает добро!"); refers to any type of approval, especially reluctant approval.
- His grenades are of a wrong caliber ("Да гранаты у него не той системы"); refers to or to comment upon any kind of excuse, particularly a pathetic one. The line wasn't scripted, but improvised by the actor.
- Gyulchatai, show your sweet face ("Гюльчатай, открой личико"); a popular Russian saying for boys to say to girls.
- I feel bad for my country ("За державу обидно"); useful as defensive argument in disputes of any kind relation to the homeland.
- I'm replying to your letter, dear Katerina Matveyevna… ("Обратно пишу вам, любезная Катерина Матвеевна…"); used as a prelude to a letter humorously emphasizing its unusually high volume of detail or frequency of mail exchange.
- Mahmud, set the fire ("Махмуд, поджигай!"); used when embarking cheerfully on some difficult potentially dangerous mission.
Main cast
- Raisa Kurkina (Раиса Куркина) - Vereshchagin's wife
- Anatoly Kuznetsov (Анатолий Кузнецов) - Sukhov
- Spartak MishulinSpartak MishulinSpartak Vasilyevich Mishulin was a Soviet actor and People's Artist of USSR. He was best known for his role as Sayid in White Sun of the Desert .-External links:...
(Спартак Мишулин) - Sayid - Pavel Luspekaev (Павел Луспекаев) - Vereshchagin
- Kakhi Kavsadze (Кахи Кавсадзе) - Abdullah
- Tamara Fedotova - Gyulchatai
- Tatiana Denisova (also Gyulchatai)
- Nikolai Godovikov (Николай Годовиков) - Petrukha
External links
- Trailer and Screenshots, the official MosfilmMosfilmMosfilm is a film studio, which is often described as the largest and oldest in Russia and in Europe. Its output includes most of the more widely-acclaimed Soviet films, ranging from works by Tarkovsky and Eisenstein , to Red Westerns, to the Akira Kurosawa co-production and the epic Война и Мир...
channel