What did the burning ball represent? It only appears twice: once when Mitya tells his story and then again when he commits suicide.
Why did the ball not really damage anything in the house, but after it leaves it seems to decide to attack an innocent tree instead?
An answer could be - the lightning is a symbol for the tension, for the going away lives.
I remember that Michalkov found this special effect very important and had even some delays to get it done during post-production in France.
The director explained it in this interview:
http://www.sonyclassics.com/burntbysun/misc/interview.html
After reading the interview with the director on sonyclassics.com, I think the burning sun probably attacked the tree because the tree was a sign of life. The sun was a symbol of life draining out of the characters (Mitya and Sergei). So when the sun was put off from Sergei, as Mitya pointed out to him- "You have one more hour"- it had to go somewhere, so it flew into the tree. Often trees are a sign of life and steadfastness. The Stalin era, the time in which the movie takes place, sought to destroy any resemblances to old Russia that existed. By destroying the tree, the sun is destroying the pillar of strength and tradition that still exists (perhaps in mother Russia, perhaps in the Kotov family) and damaging life in the Kotov home.
shareThe actual title of the movie, if translated word for word, is "Tired by the Sun". The tango that plays in the movie is titled "The Tired Sun". The lyrics of the tango that you hear are as follows (sorry for the clumsy translation):
The tired sun
Was saying its tender good-bye's to the sea
In that moment you confessed
That there is no love.
The sun, of course, represents the Revolution of 1917. Fifteen years after its happening, its enthusiasts have become jaded and apprehensive of its outcomes. They sought freedom, but established a totalitarian state, which was persecuting dissent relentlessly. "Temporary" measures which curbed liberty were looking more and more permanent. In other words, the revolutionaries were "tired of the sun". On the other hand, the Revolution itself had abandoned its lofty ideals and turned its attention to solidifying the new regime, micromanaging security, and supporting an emerging tyranny. The movie is about, I believe, the end of a once-glorious love affair -- between the Revolution and its fighters, as between the characters.
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Excellen interpretation and thanks for the translation. I still think the visual symbolism of the fire ball didn't add anything to the movie, but I'm glad to have it explained. I kept wondering if it was some kind of natural phenomenon in Russia, like the northern lights ; )
shareThe fire ball is indeed the revolution, the literal title, 'Tired by (read also OF) the Sun' also, as mentioned refers to disilusionment with the revolution. The fire ball is a natural phenomonem called 'Ball Lightning' and for some strange reason in real life this Ball Lightning will float almost aimlessly around in seeming random movement but is attracted to sound. If you watch the sequence again, both actually, you will see in the first instance that a crow caws loudly in the tree that the Molnya, (Russian for lightning)flies off to and destroys. The second, Mityas suicide, it is the phone ringing that attracts the attention, but the suicide means it has no need to destroy so it goes away to find someone else who is making noise. Hence the Molnya (ball lightning) is the revolution or what has become of it, the totalitarian state if you like and the sound that attracts it is the voice of descent.
Russian films are great BECAUSE they do not play by the mindless happy-ending rules Holywood imposes on its formula production line.
Good god, 7 posts and still no one understands.
The Sun represents Stalin (I guess my Russ 304 prof could be wrong tho).
Kotov is a victim of the political paranoia of the pre-war era in Russia.
"Burnt by the Sun" refers to all those who were burnt by the pre-Glasnost era.
Obvious.
The film is dedicated to all those who were "burnt by the sun of the revolution". Yes, the film does refer to, primarily, the Stalinist barbarities, but these are seen as one of the consequences of this particular revolution. I think by calling the revolution "the sun", the grandeur of some of the revolutionary ideals is evoked. But something so grand, is also dangerous, and produces it's own victims.
shareI don't believe the sun and the fireball are the same thing. The unpredictable nature of the fireball seems to be a metaphor for the capricious nature of Stalin's purges, but I think the depiction of it is bizarrely unrealistic.
I would assume Stalin was the sun. However, the Russian title is "drained by the sun" which just suggests to me summer exhaustion...
Indeed: in the Stalin era, old Joe was often referred to as 'the Sun', in a rather disturbing near-religious way.
I'm surprised no-one has mentioned this up to now.
That will be why your prof said that.
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I'm going with the typical response that it stands for the revolution... I noticed that it banged against those pictures in the hallway and I'm pretty sure it cracked a family photo and I thought it was just symbolic of the destruction that took place. It also bangs on the piano keys at the end before flying into the bathroom where Mitya is laying dead in the tub. Playing the piano had been one of the most important things in his life before he was sent away to fight in the civil war. You could say that it just stands for Stalin's regime or whatever but the piano part made me change my mind & think it was about the revolution as a whole and the negative things that happened afterwards...
I had always thought the title was either a reference to the story of Icarus or at least a broadly similar metaphor.
The sun is Stalin and Kotov is burnt because he has flown too high. Stalin got rid of many party members who had become too popular because he viewed their popularity as a threat to his own leadership and also partly also because of his extraordinary vanity. Sometimes they would be disgraced and executed after a show trial and sometimes they would be assassinated by 'enemies of the state' and the whole thing would be blamed on Trotsky. Kotov is constantly enforced as a popular hero of the revolution and so would have almost certainly be gotten rid of at some point in the personality cult the Soviet Union became under Stalin.
In my interpretation Kotov himself exists as a representation that the revolution itself was not inherently bad or evil as he is shown in the end to be a good man. However the state the Soviet Union became would use it's enemies to destroy it's heroes, as ultimately they were of more use to it's tyrannical leader. It's the former white who turns out to be the villain in the end rather than the revolutionary.
I had always thought the name Kotov was supposed to echo Kirov, a popular party official who's execution it is largely accepted Stalin arranged. Although i accept this may be a quirk of translation.
One point that people have missed so far in the discussion is the fact that the balls of fire are actually discussed by Vsevolod when he reads out from Pravda: they are referred to as 'unwelcome visitors'. When the ball of fire first arrived I assumed that it was a sign to the viewer that Misha (whose story triggers its arrival) is actually an unwelcome guest, despite the general joy with which he is greeted. The destruction the fire reaps (the shattering of the photograph and the burning of the tree) parallel the destruction that Misha is to reap on the family. At that point in the story, we still do not know the depth or extent of Misha's fall from grace: it is a hint at what is to come.
without offending you i would like to say that i am surprised about the question... first the name translates into Burnt by the Sun... that ball is the sun of revolution... where ever it went it destroyed the place... when it went to the home of kotov.. his happiness was gone and it was there in home of mitia when he committed suicide... it show the sun of revolution destroyed every life it shined on... even the ending says dedicated to the people who were burnt by the sun of revolution... i guess it was pretty much an straight forward thing...
sharelol spoiler, thanks.
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