# White Sun of the Desert

White Sun of the Desert is a 1970 Soviet Ostern film, set at the end of the Russian Civil War, in which Red Army soldier Fyodor Sukhov is ordered to guard the harem of a Caspian Sea guerrilla leader.
    Directed by Vladimir Motyl. Written by Valentin Yezhov and Rustam Ibragimbekov.

## Fyodor Sukhov

* [found Said, buried in desert sand up to his neck] Have you been settled for a long time? I'm lucky in these matters. I made a vow to myself in the hospital: I'll get resigned and go straight home, no more adventures. I dug up two of them - all right. But the third... I pulled him out, and he grabbed me by the throat; it turned out to be a bandit. That's the story. His own people buried him. Me barely fought him off. Now I'll dig you up... and good luck.
* The East is a delicate matter...
* That's right.
* Phew! Dang it...! So what...? Should I spend my whole life in this desert?!
* [takes Abdullah's harem under his wing] Zarina! Jamilya! Gyuzelle! Sayida! Khafiza! Zukhra! Leyla! Zulfia! Gyulchatai! Gyulchatai! <...> Turn righ...! [remembers his wife] Follow me, ladies.
* [Gyulchatai dances erotically in front of Sukhov] How old are you? [Gyulchatai shows with his fingers: 15] Leave it, daughter.
* Any questions? No questions.
* Be dead, of course, is calmer, but it's painfully boring.
* Now... Zarina, Jamilya, Gyuzelle, Sayida, Khafiza, Zukhra, Leyla, Zulfia... Goodbye, ladies. Sorry for any inconvenience.

### Letters to his wife Katerina Matveyevna

* My soul longs for you, beloved Katerina Matveyevna, like a crane in the sky.
* I also want to inform you that our deployment is proceeding smoothly, in an atmosphere of fraternal community and harmony. We walk along the sands and sigh about nothing but you, the only and unforgettable Katerina Matveevna. So, we don’t advise you to grieve in vain — this job is useless.
* And if it’s not our destiny to see each other, Katerina Matveyevna, then know that I was and am devoted to you alone until my last breath. And since, perhaps, I will lie down in these sands forever, it seems even sad, for want of practice. Or maybe it’s because I have met very sincere, one might say, delicate people in recent times. To this I remain a witness, a fighter for the happiness of the working people of the whole earth, a demobilized Red Army Transcaspian International Revolutionary Proletarian Regiment named after Comrade August Bebel soldier Sukhov Fedor Ivanovich. [before last fight with basmachi]

## Pavel Vereschagin

* I don't take bribes, I'm sad for the country. [main catchphrase associated with character]
* Sukhov, you said? Now let's see what kind of Sukhov it is. Forgive me, a sinner... [lights the wick of a dynamite stick, throws the stick to Sukhov] Keep it! [looking at what kind of Sukhov it is, satisfied] Come in.
* Did you put that caviar on me again?! I can't eat the damn thing every day! If only you could get some bread!
* Wash up, lads! Oh... [throwing bandits into the sea from a longboat]
* I'm going to get closer, Fyodor Ivanovich. [character's last words]

## Rakhimov

* Sukhov, help us. With you we will finish him [Abdullah] off at once. After all, you alone are worth a whole platoon, or even a company.
* Take them, and we'll get Abdullah! He's at Dry Spring now. You just take them as far as Pedzhent, they will be safer there, and I'll give you a man, a horse, some cereal... Ah, Sukhov? Sukhov...! Now, perhaps, for three hundred miles, none of ours are there!
* Mount! Comrades women, don't be afraid! We will put an end to your exploiter husband! But for now you are at the disposal of Comrade Sukhov! He will feed and protect you! He is a good man!

## Abdullah

* ... My father said before his death: "Abdullah, I lived my life as a poor man and I want God to send you an expensive robe and a beautiful harness for your horse." I waited a long time, and then God said: "Mount horse and take whatever you want, if you are brave and strong."
* Your father was a wise man, but who on this earth knows what is good and evil? The dagger is good for the one who has it, and bad for the one who does not have it at the right time.
* C'mon, go! A good wife, a good home — what else does a person need to meet old age?!

## Sayid

* [to Sukhov] There will be no peace for me as long as Dzhavdet lives. Why did you dig my up?
* I heard shooting… [every time Sukhov asks him: “Sayid, why are you here?”]
* Dzhavdet is mine... If you meet him, don’t touch him.

## Petrukha

* Gulchatay! Open your face, will you?
* Comrade Sukhov, I'm serious, I want to get married. I just want to see her face. Perhaps it's a kind of crocodile, and then languish all your life.

## Gyulchatai

* The lord appointed me his beloved wife!

## Dialogue

    Semyon: Wait, Abdullah will come, he will rip out your tongue. Well, why are you silent?
    Sukhov: I take care of my tongue.
    Semyon: How do you want we do, to finish you off right now or do you want to suffer?
    Sukhov: It's better to suffer, of course.
    Sukhov: About this Dzhavdet, is he with Abdullah or what?
    Sayid: Dzhavdet is a covard. Abdullah is a warrior. They hate each other.
    Petrukha: (very drunken) I d-don't d-drink!
    Vereshchagin: You're right. I will drink this [shows huge bottle of vodka], and I will quit too.
    Sukhov: Can you give us a machine gun?
    Vereshchagin: Waiting for Abdullah?
    Sukhov: I am.
    Vereshchagin: That's it, Sukhov. I had customs — there were smugglers. Now there is no customs — there are no smugglers. In general, I have peace with Abdullah. After all, everything is the same for me - what are Whites, what are Reds, what is Abdullah, what are you. Now, if I went with you, then another matter.
    Sukhov: Well, what's the matter? Come on.
    Petrukha: (very drunken) C'mon...!
    Vereshchagin: Let's go.
    Vereshchagin: (after conversation with his wife) Well, guys. I won't give you a machine gun.
    Sukhov: We see. Peacocks, you said? H-heh!
    Sukhov: Maybe you really should be married? I'll give you to Petrukha in marriage. Boy's single. He'd take you to his mother, ah?
    Gyulchatai: I'm your wife!
    Sukhov: My wife's at home.
    Gyulchatai: Can't you tell her that Gyulchatai's your favorite wife? Would she be offended by that?
    Sukhov: Heh! "Offended..." How many times do I have to explain to you! We are entitled to only one wife. Do you understand? One. Well, isn’t it bad, your husband loves you alone, he gives presents to you alone, cares, protects. Is it bad?
    Gyulchatai: Good.
    Sukhov: Here you go.
    Gyulchatai: One wife loves husband. One sews clothes, one cooks food, one feeds children... М? And all this alone?!
    Sukhov: Nothing can be done about that...
    Gyulchatai: It's hard...!
    Sukhov: Sure it's hard.
    Sayid: Now, leave. Hurry up. You can't stay alone.
    Sukhov: I can't. Abdullah will kill the women.
    Sayid: Abdullah will kill you. These are his wives. Goodbye.
    Sukhov: I counted on you.
    Sayid: If I get killed, who will take revenge on Dzhavdet?
    Sukhov: I counted on you, Sayid.
    Sukhov. (from the oil tank) Hey, Abdullah! Are you still veiled or disguised as a man? Abdullah! You have sweet wives! I feel nice with them!
    Abdullah: I give them to you! When I set the oil on fire, you'll feel nice. Quite nice!
    Vereshchagin: [grief-laden after Abdulla killed Petrukha; climbs onboard a boat filled up with the loot pillaged by Abdulla and his pack] Hey, Abdullah...! Didn't you take a lot of goods? And all without a duty?
    Abdullah: [at shore] So there is no one in the Customs! It is unknown who to pay! We'll pay with gold, if you wish!
    Vereshchagin: You do know me, Abdullah: I don't take bribes - I'm sad for the country.
    Abdullah: [to one of his accomplices] Aristarkh, negotiate with the Customs!
    [Aristarkh and a few bandits start out menacingly toward the trawler and enter water to swim to it]

## Cast

* Anatoly Kuznetsov - Fyodor Ivanovich Sukhov
* Pavel Luspekayev - Pavel Vereschagin
* Spartak Mishulin - Sayid
* Kakhi Kavsadze - Abdullah
* Nikolai Godovikov|]] - Petrukha
* Raisa Kurkina - Nastasia
* Galina Luchai - Katerina Matveyevna

## External links

* Beloe solntse pustyni quotes at the Internet Movie Database
* White Sun of the Desert at Rotten Tomatoes
* White Sun of the Desert at Allmovie