Nikita Mikhalkov

Nikita Sergeyevich Mikhalkov (born 1945) is a Russian director and actor, and head of the Cinematographers' Union. His family has a tradition of art, as his father wrote children's books and the lyrics to the Soviet and Russian anthems, his mother was a poetess descended from artists, and his brother Andrei Konchalovsky is an accomplished film director in his own right.

Mikhalkov studied acting at the Moscow Art Theater and the Vakhtangov Theater, and later studied film at VGIK, where he met future celebrity director Andrei Tarkovsky. Since then, his films have become famous at home and abroad. Unlike Andrei Tarkovsky, or his brother Andrei Konchalovsky, Mikhalkov has made more conventional, crowd-pleasing films, and has avoided auteur projects. On the one hand, many of his films have been at the top of Russian box-office history. On the other hand, he has been accused of being too conservative and not provocative enough.

Filmography (selected, director of film unless otherwise stated):

 * I Step Through Moscow (1964, dir. Georgi Danelia) was his first acting role.
 * At Home Among Strangers (1974) was his first big hit as a director. It is an Ostern starring Anatoly Solonitsyn. Mikhalkov plays the bandit Shurik.
 * Slave of Love (1976) is another film set during the Russian Civil War, about an actress.
 * An Unfinished Piece For Player Piano (1977)
 * Siberiade (1978, dir. Andrei Konchalovsky)
 * The Hound Of The Baskervilles (1980, dir. Igor Maslennikov)
 * Oblomov (1980) is based on the novel by Ivan Goncharov.
 * Kinfolk (1981)
 * Station For Two (1983, dir. Eldar Ryazanov)
 * A Cruel Romance (1984, dir. Eldar Ryazanov)
 * Dark Eyes (1987)
 * Autostop (1990)
 * Close To Eden (1992) originally titled Urga.
 * Burnt By the Sun (1994) is Mikhalkov's most famous film, and is set in the time of Iosif Stalin. It is one of three Russian films to win the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar.
 * The Government Inspector (1996, dir. S. Gazanov)is based on the Nikolai Gogol work.
 * The Barber of Siberia (1998) is another historical epic starring Oleg Menshikov.
 * 12 (2007), a Russian remake of Twelve Angry Men.

Tropes about or used by Mikhalkov:

 * Costume Porn
 * Crowning Music of Awesome: Whenever Eduard Artemyev does the score.
 * Glory Days: Often a Deconstructed Trope.
 * Production Posse
 * Red October
 * Scenery Porn
 * Tsarist Russia