Le soleil blanc du désert

No other film in the world serves better to describe the idea of a Russian movie classic. This verdict could be undersigned by millions and millions of people in the former USSR.

On the other hand, this film is the best one ever made in that peculiar genre which flourished in the Soviet times under the unofficial name of "Ostern", labeled thus by some highbrow wits. What is Ostern? Plainly and simply, it is Western Russian style, with West replaced by East and the word "Ostern" itself being a pun on the German equivalents for "East" and "Easter". The genre of Ostern is strictly limited by the following rules:

The place, Central Asia; the time, the 20's, or the early 30's. The main conflict is the re-conquering by the Soviets of those parts of the region that had belonged to the Russian Empire before the revolution. The good guys are Red Army men. The bad guys are local rebels, pictured strictly as highwayman and cutthroats, known by the generic (Turkic) name of "basmachi" - imagine some Mexican banditos from your horse opera, dressed like the Taliban and headed by a Calvera (The Magnificent Seven) conveniently renamed to suit the time and place.

Now, the way the particular Ostern winds up, is this good guy Sukhov (a Russian Clint Eastwood) has to wipe out, almost single-handedly, a whole gang of smugglers and outlaws terrorizing a certain region of the Caspian (or maybe Aral?) Sea coast and headed by a gruesome yet not entirely unlikable desperado named Abdulla, who is Sukhov's main adversary.

The movie combines several genres. Sometimes it's a simple shoot-em-all, sometimes a drama, and sometimes even a bit of comedy, with all this mixed in a perfect proportion. The sparks of humor look especially good on the rather tense general background, thus creating a unique atmosphere and spicing up the whole thing.

Being the best Ostern ever made, the movie is a tolerably good action flick, but actually it's a thousand times more than that. For the Russians it's a cult movie number one, with almost every line being a celebrated catch-phrase. Especially well-known is this one, "The East is a delicate matter", said by Sukhov to his young partner Petrukha. The baleful significance of this wisecrack, made in the early 70's, has been finally appreciated only after the Afghan campaign and from then on never fails to remain on the national political agenda.

The soundtrack has become truly famous, with the theme song "Your Excellency Lady Luck" (name translated) a top hit for decades, and, no doubt, for many, many years to come.

Most of the principal characters have become heroes of numerous jokes, and therefore, part and parcel of the national folklore.

If you haven't seen this one, you don't know Russian cinematography, simply because this film alone is worth hundreds and hundreds of others made in that country.

Sukhov (Anatoliy Kuznetsov) is a former soldier making the journey home across the desert near the Caspian sea. He ends up tasked with protecting the harem of a notorious bandit leader named Black Abdullah (Kakhi Kavsadze), after the bandit left them for dead while running from the Soviet army. What should be a short and simple escort mission turns into a perilous battle when Abdullah returns for his wives, leaving only Sukhov and a handful of allies to defeat the bandit army.

Most of the Soviet films that I've seen have been the propaganda works of the late silent era and the coldly remote intellectualism of Andrei Tarkovsky. However, much like The Amphibian Man, White Sun of the Desert is an entirely different kind of Russian film, much more fun, vibrant, exotic, and entertaining. Sukhov makes for a great change-of-pace hero: positive, confident, and romantic, as depicted by his frequent narrated composition of love letters to his beloved back home, which often amusingly contrast with what's being shown on screen. The action scenes are capably done, and there are many funny lines of dialogue ("He had the wrong grenades.") that work across the cultural barrier. There are some surprisingly dark plot turns, but instead of derailing the adventurous mood of the film, it just makes it feel more Russian, somehow. Recommended.

I's, oh, so wonderful film. I saw it for the first time in my 19, in 1971 in small bioscope in Poland. Soviet film were not very wanted by the teenagers but it was long, dull summer and I haven't nothing better to do. And, what a surprise - film full of humor, action and irony. Song sung by me beloved Bulat Okudzava. After a long, long time I've seen it again in 2000 (You know , Soviet films were almost banned in Polish democracy. A moment of anxiety how it will be work and - ohhh, same feelings, same thrills, same chills. No, not the same, even deeper.

I have seen the impact that the American Western had on the Italians ("The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly") and now I have seen its influence of the Russians. This "Ostern" tackles the subject matter of civil war, bigamy, and death with a wonderful lack of pretense that is expected from a John Wayne movie; all that has changed are the ideologies. With a little more in common with "Lawrence of Arabia" than just sand the movie focuses on an unextraordinary man forced to rise to the occasion of being a hero. The lead is extremely engaging as a man who never looses his laid-back attitude even as soldiers pour oil around him and the many wives. His fidelity to his farm wife provides for the movie's highlight. He imagines his wife surrounded by the entire harem performing chores around the field. The clashing of East and... well, further East provides for many comical situations. The way the harem acts around the men in the museum is countered by the men lusting after them.

Needless to say, this film carries an enormous cultural significance for the Russians. Today, Russian press even hails it as the first Russian/Soviet action film, although "Piraty XX Veka" is much better suited for that title. Besides, this movie is not the kind of action that people are used to nowadays. There is no point in going over the film's story line because it is very simple and focuses on good vs. bad guys (Soviet style, that is) during the Russian civil war. I imagine that any person who hasn't lived in the former USSR will not find much to worship here. And yet, it is truly a masterpiece that sort of happened to be made without any grand intentions, but was able to strike a chord with the entire nation. It's all very simple and naive, but the film's characters, the things they say, the theme song, it all clicks together perfectly. And the best thing about it is that neither time nor political fluctuations (like the demise of the Soviet empire) doesn't detract its magic. It just became more sarcastic, or nostalgic, depending on your perception. "White Sun of The Desert" is undoubtedly a classic of the Soviet cinema.