Nikita Mikhalkov © AFP
Nikita Mikhalkov : “There is nothing worse than a filmmaker who betrays historical truth out of ignorance”
Nikita Mikhalkov and the whole team of his film, The Exodus – Burnt by the Sun 2 (Utomlyonnye Solntsem 2: Predstoyanie) by Nikita Mikhalkov, held a press conference this morning. Excerpts.
Nikita Mikhalkov, on the theme of his film:
Contrary to what I was able to read in the press, The Exodus is a feature film that is neither pro-Stalinist nor anti-Stalinist. It is a love story, about a father’s love for his daughter. It is this love story that is the true essence of the film. It also tackles many powerful and metaphysical topics. This time, I wanted to deal with the metaphysics of destruction. The last part of my triptych will deal with the metaphysics of rebirth.
Nikita Mikhalkov about the editing and the script of The Exodus:
The editing was important because we had to find the right balance between the many action scenes and the scenes where the audience can catch their breath. In the version of the film that was presented here, certain details were cut that would not have made sense to an international audience. A film script is not a Bible that has to be followed to the letter, but rather the point of departure for a film. Some things don’t emerge until the filming is actually taking place.
Nikita Mikhalkov and the documentation work for The Exodus:
We did a tremendous amount of work on archives from the period. On the other hand, we did not do this research to make a cut-and-paste in the film. The overriding imperative was to maintain the spirit of the times. There is nothing worse than a filmmaker who betrays historical truth out of ignorance.
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