Burnt by the Sun 2

This sequel is much grander in terms of production and production design than the first film, but it's also been almost twenty years. You can see that Michalkov concentrated on telling a different story, even though some of the characters are the same. It was supposed to be more warlike this time, and it's also very harsh and unpleasant in places, which I like. (08/09/2017)

A filmmaking failure of gargantuan proportions. A film in which categories of characters, time and space (so precisely built and well-functioning in the first film) fatally collapse, and only a shapeless and unconventional mix of shots that often lack any logic and rational intent remains. The work of destruction is completed by eerily monotonous music, a bad camera and editing of the battle sequences, the pitiful non-acting of Nikita's beloved Nadežda, and an absolutely desperate absence of opinion and any message. Michalkov can talk about what he wanted to accomplish with this film (good, god, the metaphysics of war), but the fact remains that he has only achieved the absolute negation of his once generalistic and disciplined style. The paradox can't be worse – the more shots a film has, the more its cluelessness and emptiness stand out. I guarantee that I waited for the longer version. (10/07/2010)

I found the sequel (?) to the original film confusing. Nikita Mikhalkov, as a co-writer of the screenplay, would risk having his ankles broken if he had to defend the weird continuation of the story to Annie Wilkes. General Kotov was shot dead in 1936 (original information), in 1941 (new information), not shot at all (latest information). Don’t even get me started on his family. The war scenes sometimes felt like a parody (defecation, being hit by a flare, Ju 87 equipped with a bombshell, etc.). On the other hand, I have to appreciate the extremely realistic scene that showed what a typical man is willing to go through to persuade a woman to reveal her charms. (26/02/2018)

Leaving aside the fact that I absolutely don't understand what led Nikita Michalkov to resurrect the main characters of his rightly praised work, I have to say that while the sequel is not boring, it has little in common with the original well constructed drama. The beautiful poetics so characteristic of Burnt by the Sun have disappeared somewhere into oblivion. Even more distressing is the lack of a supporting idea and the naivety with which some of the battle scenes were presented. However, if I take it as a stand-alone war film, then I have no serious reservations about it. It should be noted that the charm of the film shot sixteen years earlier is at least partially recalled by the final minutes showing a dying soldier with his last wish, which Nadezhda finally grants him. (65%) (27/06/2020)

As a frequent viewer of Soviet war movies, I experienced "Russian pathos at its most annoying" to a great extent during the previous regime, but Michalkov's film is definitely not one of them. On the contrary, what I appreciate is his systematic subversion of the clichés of the war genre, either through subtle absurdist humour or farcical situations that illustrate the absurdity of war, or through an unusual authorial approach that is unexpected and therefore refreshing (the final scene with the exposure of breasts). Yes, there is pathos too, but to a very reasonable degree. Michalkov certainly has nothing to be ashamed of and I look forward to the second part of the story. (11/08/2011)