White Nights

White Nights (1985)

Timing: 2:16 (136 min)

6.732/10
123

7.006/10
2346

6.7/10
9000

All about film

Video 1

Photo 5

Actors and characters

Release date

1985-11-22

Country

United States

Production

Columbia Pictures, New Visions

Genre

Drama, Thriller

Budget

$0

Revenue

$42 160 849

Website

Director

Taylor Hackford

Actors

Mikhail Baryshnikov, Gregory Hines, Jerzy Skolimowski, Helen Mirren, Geraldine Page, Isabella Rossellini, John Glover, Stefan Gryff, William Hootkins, Shane Rimmer
All actors and roles (10)

Scenario

Producer

William S. Gilmore, Taylor Hackford

Operator

David Watkin

Composer

Michel Colombier

Artist

Stuart Rose

Audition

Nancy Klopper, Jeremy Zimmermann, Noel Davis

Editing

William Steinkamp, Fredric Steinkamp
All team (102)

• Helen Mirren convincingly played Galina Ivanova, which is not surprising considering her father was Russian. Her birth name is Elena Lidia Vasilievna Mironova. Her grandfather, Pyotr Vasilievich Mironov, was a military engineer and served on the Russian Government Committee in London, where he oversaw arms procurement for the Russian army. A staunch monarchist, he remained in Great Britain after the revolution (according to other sources, he fled Soviet Russia).
• Actress Helen Mirren and director Taylor Hackford met on the set of this film. They subsequently married.
• Director Taylor Hackford faced criticism and ridicule for using old photographs of Helsinki in the film, which he presented as photographs of Leningrad. In fact, Hackford used photographs of Leningrad obtained at his request from representatives of a Finnish tourist agency. Despite the criticism, he endured the mockery for a long time and remained silent about the origin of the photographs so as not to compromise his Finnish friends.
• Director Taylor Hackford encountered quite predictable difficulties when choosing locations for filming. A large part of the film's plot unfolded in the USSR, particularly in Siberia and Leningrad. Given the film's subject matter – and especially the participation of Mikhail Baryshnikov – filming there was out of the question. Siberia could not be filmed on location either, as the technical capabilities of that period did not allow for accurately recreating the typical lighting for northern latitudes. The filmmakers took several trial trips to countries bordering the Arctic Circle and eventually chose the Finnish island of Reposaari. The majority of the island's population, which by that time numbered 1071 people, adhered to communist ideals, so producer William S. Gilmore had to use maximum diplomacy to obtain permission to film. One way or another, the Finnish communists proved to be pragmatic. Filming meant investment in the island's economy and temporary work for its inhabitants (the port, chemical plant, and fish processing plant located on the island had long been in decline). In short, only three residents of the island opposed filming and turning their village into a Siberian town for two weeks.
• The beginning of the film shows an excerpt from the ballet "The Young Man and Death" (choreographer – Roland Petit, librettist – Jean Cocteau), which premiered in 1946 on the stage of the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées.
• While preparing for filming, Helen Mirren, Gregory Hines (1946-2003), and Isabella Rossellini visited Leningrad.
• The filmmakers needed to find a location that could pass for the interior of the Leningrad Order of Lenin and Order of the October Revolution Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre named after S.M. Kirov. Ultimately, they decided to film in the premises of the Teatro Nacional de São Carlos in Lisbon. Throughout Western Europe, it most resembled the theatre in Leningrad in terms of atmosphere and the elegance of its decor, as Mikhail Baryshnikov also agreed. At that time, the theatre had already existed for almost 200 years. It served as a symbol of the revival of the Portuguese capital after the devastating earthquake of 1783. The interiors of the Kirov Theatre were filmed in Portugal, while the exterior shots were taken directly in Leningrad in the then USSR. In 1992, the Kirov Theatre was renamed the State Academic Mariinsky Theatre.
• The film opens with an excerpt from the ballet “The Young Man and Death” (choreographer – Roland Petit, librettist – Jean Cocteau), which premiered in 1946 on the stage of the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées.
• The filmmakers needed to find a venue that could pass for the interior of the Leningrad Order of Lenin and Order of the October Revolution Academic Theatre of Opera and Ballet named after S.M. Kirov. Eventually, it was decided to film in the premises of the Teatro Nacional de São Carlos in Lisbon. Throughout Western Europe, it most resembled the theatre in Leningrad in terms of atmosphere and the elegance of its interior, as Mikhail Baryshnikov also agreed. At that time, the theatre had been around for almost 200 years. It served as a symbol of the revival of the Portuguese capital after the terrible earthquake of 1783. The interiors of the Kirov Theatre were filmed in Portugal, and the exterior – directly in Leningrad in the then USSR. In 1992, the Kirov Theatre was renamed the State Academic Mariinsky Theatre.