Sun not worthy of Oscar
The decision of the Russian Oscar committee to nominate Nikita Mikhalkov`s box office flop Burnt by the Sun-2 for an Academy Award has provoked a wave of criticism among film buffs.
ґMikhalkov`s Oscar-winning colleague, director Vladimir Menshov, whose hit drama Moscow Doesn`t Believe in Tears won an Academy Award back in 1981, suggested that Mikhalkov voluntarily refuse the committee`s decision.
"He [Mikhalkov] himself had submitted his film to the commission, which wasn`t very correct in the fist place," Menshov told Echo of Moscow radio.
According to Menshov, the blockbuster war drama, which was a box office failure in Russia and received an avalanche of negative reviews, cannot fly the flag for the country at the world`s most prestigious film ceremony.
With a budget of $55 million, the movie broke records as the most expensive Russian film in history. It took the director of The Barber of Siberia eight years to shoot the sequel to the 1994 drama Burnt by the Sun, which won an Oscar and the Grand Prix at the Cannes Film Festival.
Notoriously billed as "a great film about a great war," the sequel received bad reviews in the media, with the director being criticized for mixing fact with fiction. However, Mikhalkov made it clear that he is not susceptible to criticism as such, repeating his favorite proverb: "The dogs are barking, but the caravan keeps going."
"I wonder what else should be done for the director, if not to admit his failure, but at least lower his pride," an exasperated Menshov said.
He recalled that this year has been fruitful in terms of good films, with his personal favorite the award-winning drama Elena, from Andrey Zvyagintsev, being worthy of Oscar.
There are 10 filmmakers on the Russian Oscar committee, including Vladimir Menshov, Nikita Mikhalkov, and the head of the Mosfilm Studio, Karen Shakhnazarov.
About a hundred films from around the world annually vie for an Academy Award, but only five of them will make the final cut.
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