There is one scene above the others in this Russian-French production about life in Stalin's Russia. It's a lazy summer afternoon on the countryside, a boat is slowly sliding on the river, and in it are only Colonel Kotov, the charming, gentle and loving father, and his ever-so-adorable and adoring six-year-old daughter Nadya (Nadezhda). That she's his child also in real life is perhaps the key to the unusually convincing love and trust between the two in the movie.

The other key characters are Kotov's young wife Marusia, and her childhood friend and former romantic interest Mitya. Before Mitya's appearance life seems perfect at the large summer house, where Kotov's family lives with several other people, mostly elderly artists. Colonel Sergei Petrovich Kotov himself is a celebrity, a hero of the Communist Revolution, but also a most likeable man with a deep dedication for his wife and daughter, and compassion for the others around him. The first scene with Kotov shows the family man side of him. He's laying on his stomach on a sauna bench, spirited Nadya sitting on him and vigorously beating him with two birch whisks. Kotov urges her go on, while gently joking with and entertaining his wife.

This idyllic moment ends abruptly as a villager rushes in, telling Kotov he's needed to stop their own tanks that are about to destroy their wheat field. Kotov rides to the field, talks to the commander, and away the tanks go. And the hero walks into the sunset with his family, little Nadya tossed on his shoulder. (It's as curious a way of carrying as it sounds.) The beautiful music and photography, everything glowing golden in the light of the setting sun, make this scene one of my favorites.

Once Mitya arrives, the tension starts to build. Nobody wants to ask about his past, least of all Marussia. Something has happened in the past which we don't yet know, but will by the end. It probably isn't spoiling the movie to tell the end is not pretty, but rather surprisingly rough. This is what the name of the movie refers to: the 20 million human lives that were burnt by the sun of the revolution.

Despite the heavy theme, the tender elements dominate until nearly the end, mostly in form of Nadya, whose excitement, energy and self-confident mannerisms are a real delight to watch. "She's a bold little girl. Must be Kotov's daughter," agree the harsh men of the political police, after having witnessed her fearlessly approaching them, and knowing the strong character of the colonel. Better yet, none of that seems acted let alone precocious. I'm willing to bet Nadezhda was an extraordinarily self-confident child also in real life.

A particularly Russian element is a side character who appears at the most unexpected of times. In the beginning of the movie a merry man driving a truck appears, asking for directions to a place that nobody has heard of. Stubborn to stupidity, this man refuses to believe anyone's advice, and drives on, increasingly irate. This funny man adds comedic balance into the movie in a very tasteful manner that supports the plot, instead of being a mere random funny character that belongs to the Hollywood recipe.

My high opinion of the movie was shared by 1995 Oscar committee, which awarded it the Best Foreign Language Film award. Nadezhda wasn't nominated for any award, although she should have been. However her father Nikita Mikhalkov, who was also the director of the movie, won two Cannes Film Festival awards, which in my opinion were well deserved for his acting and directing alike.

While the reactions to this movie, like any movie, are all over the map, enthusiasm for Nadezhda as Nadya is rather consistent. "The real standout is the film maker's daughter Nadia, who displays a wonderfully wide-eyed energy and unexpected aptitude for dialogue. At the tender age of six, the young actress gives an amazingly unforced portrayal," says otherwise lukewarm James Berardinelli. Steve "one out of four stars" Rhodes speaks along the same lines with "Watch the Daddy and the young girl drift down the lake on their boat. Picture perfect. ... The girl was especially charming." And Ben Hoffman, ranking this movie as superb, ends his review with "The acting is excellent but little Nadia, in particular, will steal your heart. Just seeing her is enough to make this fine film even better."

The reviews in this site – the full reviews like this one in particular – aim to tell you about the best in young actresses performances. Among those, the boat scene very nearly forms a class of its own.