Sukhov's Story

White Sun of the Desert, while it can be classified as a Western adventure, is nevertheless profoundly Russian. It tells the story of Red Army officer Fyodor Ivanovich Sukhov, who is returning home from the front after the Civil War. He dreams repeatedly of reuniting with his beloved wife, Katerina Matveevna, a rosy-cheeked, busty young woman in a stereotypical Russian kerchief. Yet, as he is crossing the Turkestan desert, he comes across a man, Said, buried up to his neck in the sand. Said seems imperturbable by the prospects of imminent death and a serene Sukhov sighs with resignation, takes out his shovel, and, just a bit disappointed to be deviated from his homeward path, simply says: “2 hours...”  — his estimate of how long it will take to dig out Said.

But this is only his first diversion. Soon thereafter, Sukhov meets up with a Red Army squad on the heels of a local bandit called Abdulah. The squad commander talks Sukhov into keeping an eye on Abdulah’s harem (with the help of an inexperienced soldier, Petrukha), so that the squad can go off in pursuit of Abdulah. Sukhov agrees, later lecturing the women to forget their “damned past” and learn the rules of a “new, emancipated life of socialist community,” whereby each husband will have only one wife.

As the plots unfolds, Abdulah returns and strangles his ex-wife Gyulchatay, then kills Petrukha in cold blood with a bayonet. This prompts customs officer Pavel Vereshchagin, who came to love Petrukha like a son, to lock his wife in their house  and side with comrade Sukhov in his fight against Abdulah. Said also returns unexpectedly, is diverted from his own quest to take revenge on an enemy, and fights alongside Sukhov and company. Vereshchagin seizes Abdulah’s boatload of smuggled merchandise and utters his now famous phrase: “I take no bribes, I just feel sorry for the country.”  Vereshchagin will also die in the battle, but, in the end, Sukhov kills Abdulah and saves the harem.

Of course, such a sparse retelling does not do justice to the laconic, dry humor throughout the film, to the well-paced action and Motyl’s fine cinematography. And of course there is the brilliant song by Motyl’s old friend Bulat Okudzhava, “Your Nobility Mrs. Luck.” Perhaps the most famous scene is one where customs officer  Vereshchagin makes friends with Petrukha in a typically Russian drinking bout. Sukhov shows up outside, in search of ammunitions and a machine-gun, and tosses a stone through the window by way of greeting and asks for a light for his cigarette. The stone lands right in Vereshchagin’s bottomless glass of vodka. The cool headed customs officer carefully removes the stone from his glass, making sure not to miss a single drop of the precious drink. He then lights a bundle of dynamite from the icon lamp, crosses himself, and tosses it out the window to Sukhov, uttering the phrase, “Let’s see just what kind of Sukhov this is.” Sukhov, cool as ever, lights his cigarette and then tosses the dynamite away just before it explodes. Having passed Vereshchagin’s “exam,” Sukhov is admitted into the house with respect.