WHITE NIGHTS (1985) Full Reaction!
Added 2022-08-01 16:00:10 +0000 UTCHey there! Thank you for being a Patron! Here's the full reaction to WHITE NIGHTS!
This is a Level 5 Patreon Tier Movie Request from Kathy Ice!
This was a very interesting film that became pretty tense over time, and in the last third or so of the movie, things got a bit crazy! Definitely a bit of a slow build with a lot of conversations, but the last half an hour or so picks things up and makes things even more tense! Hope you enjoy!
EDIT: I just realized I totally forgot to put the timer in this one. That's my bad y'all! You still have the timecode, so you're good but still ughhhh
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*Want to download this instead? Copy the YouTube link, go to this site or any YouTube to MP4 website, and download from there!*
NOTE: You follow along with your own copy of the movie; I have a little timer right at the beginning where it counts down and shows the word "play" when I myself start playing the movie. I also have a timer synced throughout the movie so you're also in sync the whole time! If you don't have your own copy, then you'll have pretty much no idea what's happening!
Comments
Mikhail Baryshnikov a.k.a. Misha was known for his almost super-human leaps on stage. It makes sense he seemed "light as a feather" to you. He was/is such an incredible dancer he makes it look effortless. I had a crush on him back in the '80s. He was one of Carrie's love interests on Sex in the City and had a small role in the movie Turning Point (1977) before he was fluent in English. This is one of the first movies I bought on Prime, so I was psyched to see it in your repertoire. Thanks!
Jennifer Peck
2024-03-11 01:19:48 +0000 UTCThis was a movie made in another era. I’ve seen several reactors watch films from the Cold War and struggle with the context. Nikolai wasn’t a criminal running from anything in Russia. It was forbidden for anyone to leave the Soviet Union, like North Korea is now. If you tried to escape the Soviet Union, they would kill you. A very small number of people managed to escape and ask for asylum in other countries — defect from Russia. That’s why Nikolai was tried and convicted in abstencia. He was convicted for defecting. And because he was famous, it was a big embarrassment. The point of making him stay and dance is to show the Russian people that Nikolai returned home because the West was so horrible. Also, the significance of Siberia is that they sent criminals there, and anyone else they wanted to disappear. Siberia had the notorious Gulag prison that no one survived. It’s not clear why Raymond was banished to Siberia, probably because he was American and no longer a great PR story about an American choosing Russia. But he wasn’t in a labor camp, so he clearly hadn’t committed a crime. Oh, and it may not have been completely clear that all Western music, theater, culture, news, etc. was banned in the Soviet Union. Billy Joel was actually the first American musician allowed to play there. It was a HUGE deal and his concerts were broadcast in the U.S. As Kathy said, Mikhail Baryshnikov, who played Nikolai, was once considered the greatest ballet dancer in the world. The footage they showed of him when he was a young dancer was real. He was surely the most famous Russian defector. He was a household name in the U.S. for many years. Sorry for the big history lesson. It’s actually wonderful that young people today don’t remember all of that Cold War crap. Unfortunately, Putin is feeling nostalgic for the old Soviet Union. He was in the KGB around the time this movie was made. The reason why so many Russians picked up and left in hurry after Russia invaded Ukraine was they feared Putin would shut the borders again like it once was. They still remember the oppression.
Juley
2022-08-05 05:13:12 +0000 UTCWoahhhhh that's awesome!
TheOGBojangles
2022-08-01 20:07:01 +0000 UTC"The actor who played Nikolai." That was no actor. :) Nikolai Radchenko, a ballet dancer who defected from the Soviet Union to become an American, was played by Mikhail Baryshnikov, a ballet dancer who defected from the Soviet Union to become an American. So, yeah. I'm glad you liked the movie!
Kathy Ice
2022-08-01 19:48:41 +0000 UTC
