Nikita Sergeyevich Mikhalkov (born 21 October 1945 in Moscow, Russia) 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 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.
Nikita Mikhailkov as director
- 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.
- 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 Josef Stalin. Mikhailkov plays a high-ranking officer, Comdiv Sergei Petrov.
- The Barber of Siberia (1998) is another historical epic starring Oleg Menshikov. Mikhailkov appears as Tsar Alexander III.
- 12 (2007), a Russian remake of 12 Angry Men. Mikhailkov stars as the jury foreman.
- Sunstroke (2014)
Mikhailkov as actor only:
- Siberiade (1978, dir. Andrei Konchalovsky)
- The Hound of the Baskervilles (1980, dir. Igor Maslennikov)
- Station for Two (1982, dir. Eldar Ryazanov)
- The State Counsellor (2005, dir. Filipp Yankovsky)
