Nikita Mikhalkov’s Burnt by the Sun tells the story Kotov’s loving family and Mitya’s
attempt to tear them apart during Stalinist Russia. The film does a spectacular job of
utilizing dark imagery to create an eerie atmosphere. Many of this imagery used by the
director makes the movie formalist, such as the balls of fire shown in the opening scene of
the film. Another aspect that created a dark formalist theme is the anonymous telephone
calls which causes Kotov to be arrested. Mikhalkov was very particular with his use of
angles and shots. Seeing as Mitya is the main catalyst for Kotov’s misfortunes, Nikita
wanted to make sure when the audience saw Mitya on screen, his presence would go
noted. Several close-up shots were shown of him during some of the more eerie scenes
such as when it is revealed Mitya and Marrusya were once engaged. The director chose to
use a high angle for the scene where Mitya removes his disguise so that Kotov’s reaction
can be fully taken in by viewers. Interestingly, Mikhalkov used an oblique angle in one
particular scene to show Nadya’s expression in relation to Kotov’s. While the use of the
angle seems to break the flow of the scene, it is actually done quite intelligently because it
adds to the uneasy disposition that the two characters have. In contrast, there are several