----------------------------Original message---------------------------- Re: Nikita Mikhalkov. >> You won't criticize the Academy for selecting this one! No. I won't. The Academy has the right to make its own decision. The Academy has even the right to make its own mistakes. BURNT BY THE SUN is such a mistake. The film shows Russia from a tourist point of view - a little literature (but not too much), a little politics (but not too much), and quite a lot of 'Russian Soul' -- exactly that kind of 'Russian Soul' foreigners think to be the essence of Russia. If you want to see an adaption of Russian literature: see one of the early Mikhalkov-films, or, better, see one of the films made by his brother Andrei Konchalovski. If you want so know something about politics: see one of the around twenty films made and published in Moscow and Leningrad since 1986. If you want to understand something about Russia and its mentality: see SIBERIADE (directed by Andrei, before he left to the U.S., staring Nikita). They all are, in all points of view, better than BURNT BY THE SUN. Its a film which shows only one talent: how to win a Western public. (Successfully, as we can see.) This film can only be appreciated by people who never saw any other Russian movie. By the way, attention: this kind of 'Russian Soul' in the film may indeed be shameless speculating on Western prejudices of Russia. But is is also a political program. Sine the perestroika period Nikita Mikhalkov propagates (in weekly tv shows) a strong nationalism (sic!). This nationalist attitude includes (as we should have learned from history) anti-international, anti-intellectual, anti-jewish aspects. It leads directly to the right-wing movements in todays Russia. Speaking about BURNT..., one should know this background. Coming back to the Oscar question, I think the Academy did the worst choice possible. BEFORE THE RAIN, the Macedonian film, is rather over-appreciated, but VIVE L'AMOUR, the Taiwanese film, is one of the best debuts of the last year/s and from a filmic point of view most interesting. Only, who cares about Taiwanese movies? Klaus Klaus Eder [log in to unmask]