White Sun Of The Desert

WHITE SUN OF THE DESERT (BELOE SOLNTSE PUSTYNI) - 1970, Mosfilm, 84 min.

"Have you been here long?" quips laconic, seemingly un-killable Red Army soldier Fyodor to a man he's just discovered buried up to the neck in the middle of the desert. Director Vladimir Motyl's surreal action classic is arguably the most entertaining and beloved of the Soviet "Osterns" inspired by films like STAGECOACH, HIGH NOON and 1960s Spaghetti Westerns (and certainly by Kurosawa's YOJIMBO as well.) Set during the Russian Civil War, the story follows Fyodor (Anatoliy Kuznetsov) tramping across the endless sands of Turkmenistan and desperate to get back home to his wife -- when he's diverted into guarding a harem of Muslim women caught in a struggle between a renegade Red Army unit and local Basmachi guerillas led by Abdullah (Kakhi Kavsadze).

Filled with endlessly-quotable dialogue and song lyrics -- "A knife is good for he who has it -- and it's bad for he who doesn't at the right moment" and "No luck in dying, I'll have luck in love" are two gems --, WHITE SUN is as visually striking as Leone's A FISTFUL OF DOLLARS, with its resourceful hero waging a one-man battle against the bandit chieftain and his army. (It also has a surprisingly feminist theme with Fyodor encouraging the niqab-wearing women to take control of their destinies: "Comrade women, the revolution has set you free!" he exhorts them.) The best comparison, though, may be to Georgiy Daneliya's sci-fi masterpiece KIN-DZA-DZA! (also released by Deaf Crocodile): both films are about Everyman Russians trapped in surreal alien desert landscapes, and rather than freaking out, responding in the most matter-of-fact ways to whatever strange misfortunes they encounter.

One of the most popular Soviet films ever made, WHITE SUN has been beautifully restored by Mosfilm for its first-ever U.S. Blu-ray release through Deaf Crocodile, in association with Seagull Films. In Russian with English subtitles.