Q. Burt By the Sun was released in 1994 and seemed to be self-contained. Did you plan a triptych all along?
A. At the time I didn't have a triptych at all in mind. The first time I wanted to make a war film was watching Spielberg's fantastic war film Saving Private Ryan, which is set in Normandy. I saw the film in Paris and came out to overhear a group of young people talking who were completely convinced that this was how the war was won. Spielberg fulfilled his mission beautifully, telling the war from his point of view. I wanted to tell it from my POV, too.
I didn't want to show it the way it's usually shown with a happy ending called "victory." I wanted to portray the privations, the process. My film shows what the Russian Army had to endure during the war. Then I said to myself, why not resuscitate my character? Afterall, we bring back Sherlock Holmes.
I can reply to journalists who print things without having seen the film. My film is not pro-Stalin or anti-Stalin. It's a love story. Not
between a man and a woman but a man and his daughter, neither of whom knows the other is alive but who are sustained by love and fate.
Q. What will Part III be?
A. I won't tell you because you won't buy a ticket to see it. There's a lot of metaphysics and unexpected developments. Almost like
coincidences.
In what you've just seen in Part II, I wanted to treat the metaphysics of destruction. I promise that everything that's raised in this part will be answered in the next.
Q. What was cut out of this version, which at two and a half hours iis a half hour shorter than the version that opened in Russia? Also, the film has been shown in two other countries already, which would seem to disqualify it from the Cannes Competition.
A. We have a contract with [French distributor] UGC that specifies a two and a half hour running time. We cut out a half hour for the international market. We took out stuff that Russians will "get" but not necessarily non-Russians. I confirm that the version you saw is also my film.
Q. Festival regulations stipulate that a film can't have been shown outside its home country. Yet this has been shown in Kazakhstan and some others.
A. Maybe they don't consider those countries as being outside of Russia.
Q. You looked at lots of archival footage in preparation.
A. We studied an enormous amount of archival material. I confess that it's terrible when a filmmaker betrays historical truth out of
ignorance.
I think today's school kids barely know the war let alone the nuances of dates.
We spent 8 years shooting the film. We didn't really want to stop. For me a screenplay is just a starting off point.
Q. Nadya speaks to the giant mine. Can you tell us why?
A. Nadya speaks to the mine because she senses it as a living thing, not because she's schizophrenic or has nobody to talk to. And the mine doesn't drift away until she kisses it and bids it farewell.
Q. You have been accused of being a terrible authoritarian. Most of the director's union signed a petition against you.
A. When I'm accused of something I'd like the facts because, Madame, I could say that yesterday I saw you naked at the Carlton Hotel. People repeat that they hear that Mikhalkov abuses his power, can prevent a young director from making his film, have a filmmaker banned. I express my opinions, but I don't influence lives. Authoritarianism? I think expressing an opinion is at the basis of democracy.
Of the 87 directors who said they were leaving the director's union, 30 never belonged in the first place, 2 others haven't lived in Russia for over 30 years. [France-based Georgian director] Otar Iosseliani would have had a hard time quitting the Russian Director's Union since he was a member of the USSR Director's Union. Thirty others haven't paid their dues for 5 to 7 years, which is grounds for dismissal. What's left? Four people who REALLY left the union. That's to give you and idea of the vast scope of this international incident.
Q. Your film is the costliest Russian film ever but it hasn't made much back.
A. The film cost $40 million. That's for the two new parts and 15 episodes for TV -- not a re-edit of the film material but shot directly for TV. The government can invest up to $10 million per film. We had government aid of $10 million on Part II and $10 million on Part III. Critics should be happy because we made an enormous art film with a big budget.
