White Nights (1985)

User Rating:

6.1/10   

Director:

Taylor Hackford

Writers:

James Goldman (screenplay) and
Eric Hughes (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

22 November 1985 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

An expatriate Russian dancer is on a plane forced to land on Soviet territory. He is taken to an apartment...

Plot Keywords:

Escape | Ballet | KGB | Expatriate | Airplane Accident

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 2 wins & 2 nominations

Cast

Mikhail Baryshnikov	...	Nikolai 'Kolya' Rodchenko
Gregory Hines	...	Raymond Greenwood
Jerzy Skolimowski	...	Colonel Chaiko
Helen Mirren	...	Galina Ivanova
Geraldine Page	...	Anne Wyatt
Isabella Rossellini	...	Darya Greenwood
John Glover	...	Wynn Scott
Stefan Gryff	...	Captain Kirigin
William Hootkins	...	Chuck Malarek
Shane Rimmer	...	Ambassador Larry Smith
Florence Faure	...	Ballerina (Death)
David Savile	...	Pilot
Ian Liston	...	Co-pilot
Benny Young	...	Flight Engineer
Hilary Drake	...	Stewardess #1

Runtime:

136 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Russian

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints) | Dolby (35 mm prints)

Certification:

UK:15 | Australia:M | Singapore:PG | Canada:14A (Ontario) | Iceland:L | Argentina:13 | Chile:14 | Finland:K-12 | Norway:16 | Spain:T | Sweden:11 | USA:PG-13 | West Germany:12

Filming Locations:

Bristol Hippodrome, Bristol, England, UK

Company:

Columbia Pictures Corporation

Trivia:

Lionel Richie's song "Say You, Say Me" wasn't included on the soundtrack album to the film. This is because Motown Records did not want Richie's first single since the Can't Slow Down album to appear on another record label.

Goofs:

Continuity: During Chaiko's interrogation of Rodchenko at the clinic, the torn items thrown on Rodchenko change. The image of a partial American Express Gold Card appears, disappears, then re-appears during the course of the questioning.

Quotes:

Nikolai 'Kolya' Rodchenko: I see. You and your wife, you worke in the theater. And you live here... in Siberia.
Raymond Greenwood: It's just temporary.
Nikolai 'Kolya' Rodchenko: [dryly] Of course. Nobody is here permanently.

Movie Connections:

References Porgy and Bess (1959)

Soundtrack:

tapDANCE

outstanding! Defies qualification.

I absolutely ADORE this movie. I have seen in originally with my father when I was still young and then many times afterward. Gregory Hines is breathtaking, Mikhail Baryshnikov... well he is Mikhail Baryshnikov! :) The dance sequences are wonderful, the acting is top notch, and I was on the edge of my seat the entire movie. I was appalled when movie renting stores did not have the movie in the US. They had any other crap that crawled out of Hollywood, but not this masterpiece.

I think it is an underrated movie, and joins Zorba the Greek, La Strada and America, America in the top movies I have ever seen.

I wholeheartedly recommend it. Give it a chance and you will not regret it. I guarantee you will get goose-bumps throughout the movie. Enjoy! :)