Synopsis
After his plane crashes in Siberia, a Russian dancer, who defected to the West, is held prisoner in the Soviet Union. The KGB keeps him under watch and tries to convince him to become a dancer for the Kirov Academy of Ballet again. Determined to escape, he befriends a black American expatriate and his pregnant Russian wife, who agree to help him escape to the American Embassy.
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Cast
- Mikhail BaryshnikovNikolai 'Kolya' Rodchenko
- Gregory HinesRaymond Greenwood
- Isabella RosselliniDarya Greenwood
- Helen MirrenGalina Ivanova
- Jerzy SkolimowskiColonel Chaiko
- Geraldine PageAnne Wyatt
- John GloverWynn Scott
- Stefan GryffCaptain Kirigin
- William HootkinsChuck Malarek
- Shane RimmerAmbassador Larry Smith
Recommendations
- 75
Chicago Tribune
The movie does command our attention because Hines and Baryshnikov, through their dancing, manage to create very real and living and hurting characters. [22 Nov 1985] - 70
Time
For all its superpower simplifications, White Nights has discovered in Baryshnikov a keen and passionate movie hero. Giggle at the film's naiveté; then feast on Misha and dance down the steppes. - 63
Chicago Sun-Times
It comes to life in the dance sequences, and then drifts away again. - 63
TV Guide Magazine
The major problem with White Nights is that it tries to be so many things at once that it fails to be much of anything other than a vehicle to watch two of the best dancers around strut and tap their stuff. - 40
Chicago Reader
Director Taylor Hackford shapes some engaging performances (the surly, withdrawn Baryshnikov of the early scenes is an intriguing figure) but never extricates himself from the plot machinery; this 1985 feature takes off only in the brief but well-filmed dance sequences. - 40
The New York Times
White Nights is only tolerable when Mr. Baryshnikov is on screen, especially when he is dancing alone or with Mr. Hines, with whom he does a couple of ballet-tap numbers that are of an order of excellence that has nothing to do with the rest of the movie. - 40
Los Angeles Times
At all times the wretched high-concept, low-intelligence story contrives to bring everything down to its sudsy level. [22 Nov 1985] - 38
Christian Science Monitor
The director, Taylor Hackford, doesn't have the cinematic savvy to sustain so many tensions in a meaningful way; and the screenplay strays far over the line between incisive political comment and heavy-handed Red-baiting.
