Sunstroke (2014 film)

Sunstroke (Russian: Солнечный удар, translit: Solnechnyy udar) is a 2014 Russian drama film directed, produced and written by Nikita Mikhalkov, starring Martinsh Kalita and Viktoriya Solovyova. It is set after the collapse of the 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 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 (lieutenant) –is haunted by the memories of a dramatic and brief love affair which occurred in 1907. He 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 sink in the Black Sea, and all officers perish.

Cast
In order of appearance in main titles:
 * Martinsh Kalita as a poruchik (lieutenant)
 * Viktoriya Solovyova as a beautiful stranger
 * Sergei Karpov as Egoriy (Georgiy Sergeevich as a child)
 * Anastasiya Imamova as Tatyana
 * Sergey Serov as a priest
 * Kseniya Popovich as Olya
 * Andrey Popovich as Petya
 * Aleksandr Ustyugov as Vladimir Yumatov, an Imperial Navy officer
 * Aleksandr Oblasov as a steward
 * Aleksandr Borisov as a sailor
 * Maksim Bityukov as Trigorin
 * Vitali Kishchenko as a cavalry captain
 * Denis Vasilev as a student
 * Aleksandr Adabashyan as a photographer
 * Eduard Artemyev as a photographer assistant
 * Kristina Kirillova as Lizonka
 * Miloš Biković as baron Nikolay Alexandrovich Gulbe-Levitsky (Koka), a podporuchik (i.e. Second Lieutenant) of the Life Guard Uhlan Regiment of Her Majesty
 * Avangard Leontiev as fakir (prestidigitator)
 * Kirill Boltaev as Yesaul (i.e. Cossack Captain)
 * Aleksandr Michkov as Junker (i.e. Cadet)
 * Aleksey Dyakin as Georgiy Sergeevich (Egoriy as an adult)
 * Miriam Sekhon as Rosalia Zemlyachka
 * Sergey Bachurskiy as Béla Kun
 * Vladimir Yumatov as colonel

Music
The musical score for Sunstroke was composed by Eduard Artemyev, who has collaborated with Mikhalkov on numerous movies (At Home Among Strangers, An Unfinished Piece for a Player Piano, Burnt by the Sun, The Barber of Siberia, etc.).

A leading tune accompanying the 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" ("My heart opens itself to your voice"), 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 Russian Gypsy song "Ne Dlya Menya" ("Not for Me"), performed by Mikhalkov himself, backed by the Kuban Cossack Choir. This song had already been 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, Serbia. The premiere of the film in Russia 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 same channel premiered the 5-episode version of the film.