In analyzing the two main characters—Kotov and Mitia—there are many distinctions and similarities between the two, insomuch that they were both burnt by the sun. The film takes place in 1936 Russia, nineteen years after the Communist Revolution and well into Stalin’s purges. The film centers on Colonel Kotov, a revolutionary in the Bolshevik uprising and Mitia, a member of Stalin’s secret political police who was sent to retrieve Kotov for his …showed first 75 words of 687 total…

…showed last 75 words of 687 total…leading engineers, designers and scientists, outstanding writers, artists, film and theatre directors, and so on. The truth, they soon discover, is that they both live in a world where there can only be a choice between serving the system and thus becoming its accomplice or to be exploited by it. The chilling final scenes emphasize the theme on just how far-reaching the dictator’s grasp was, and how insecure even the most loyal patriots were.