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White Nights
Jul. 11th, 2011 01:12 pmYesterday I rewatched White Nights. God I love that movie. For those of you who haven't seen it, it stars Mikhail Baryshnikov and Gregory Hines in a dance-musical-Cold-War-political-thriller. With Isabella Rosalini (in her first American film role) and Helen Mirren. And surprise John Glover. It is as awesome as it sounds.
- It was made in 1985, so is distinctly propagandistic. But not in an intentional way. More like the filmmakers truly believed that Russia was like a prison and everyone in there must want to get out. Despite this, Hines's character, who defected to Russia, does point out that America's not so hot either, especially for a black soldier in Vietnam.
- Because Baryshnikov, like his character in the film, defected from Russia, they could not film in Russia. Baryshnikov was not setting foot in that country. So much of the film is filmed in Finland and elsewhere in Europe. But they did send a Finnish film crew to Leningrad to film a "travel documentary." They didn't hear back from the crew for weeks and didn't know what had happened to them, but they eventually emerged with the footage. So there is gorgeous footage of Soviet Leningrad, including of the imposing statue of Lenin that was pulled down a few years later.
Despite the bias of the filmmakers, the movie has some fantastic dancing that occurs organically within the plot of the film, and a truly tense chase sequence at the end. If you can stomach the music (this movie gave us that staple of soft rock, Lionel Richie's "Say You, Say Me"), definitely watch it.
- It was made in 1985, so is distinctly propagandistic. But not in an intentional way. More like the filmmakers truly believed that Russia was like a prison and everyone in there must want to get out. Despite this, Hines's character, who defected to Russia, does point out that America's not so hot either, especially for a black soldier in Vietnam.
- Because Baryshnikov, like his character in the film, defected from Russia, they could not film in Russia. Baryshnikov was not setting foot in that country. So much of the film is filmed in Finland and elsewhere in Europe. But they did send a Finnish film crew to Leningrad to film a "travel documentary." They didn't hear back from the crew for weeks and didn't know what had happened to them, but they eventually emerged with the footage. So there is gorgeous footage of Soviet Leningrad, including of the imposing statue of Lenin that was pulled down a few years later.
Despite the bias of the filmmakers, the movie has some fantastic dancing that occurs organically within the plot of the film, and a truly tense chase sequence at the end. If you can stomach the music (this movie gave us that staple of soft rock, Lionel Richie's "Say You, Say Me"), definitely watch it.