Review of The White Sun of the Desert (1969) by Art S — 14 Aug 2015
Apparently this film is super popular in Russia and cosmonauts watch it before they blast off. Anatoliy Kuznetsov is wandering home from war near the Caspian Sea and runs into a series of adventures that keep him from his beloved Katerina Matveyevna to whom he writes yearning voiceover narration (picturing her in a more temperate clime than the desert before him).
Kuznetsov's character Sukhov is more Douglas Fairbanks than Randolph Scott but he finds himself in the Western tradition, as a lone gun (albeit with a couple of sidekicks of unknown loyalty) facing a gang of fierce bandits.
In this variation, Sukhov is also sheltering the lead bandit Abdullah's nine wives (in full burkas) after they have been freed and he is at pains to explain to them that they can now have one husband each.
The actual battles here are more whimsical than warlike and the film as a whole is sort of gently rollicking; however, this led me to drift off (despite its brief 80 minutes). Russians may get more out of this.
This review of The White Sun of the Desert (1969) was written by Art S on 14 Aug 2015.
The White Sun of the Desert has generally received very positive reviews.
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