''Escape to the Sun'' is a 1972

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular ...

written and directed by

Menahem Golan Menahem Golan (; May 31, 1929 – August 8, 2014, originally Menachem Globus) was an Israelis, Israeli film producer, screenwriter, and director. He co-owned The Cannon Group with his cousin Yoram Globus. Cannon specialized in producing low-to-mid ...

and starring

Laurence Harvey Laurence Harvey (born Zvi Mosheh Skikne; 1 October 192825 November 1973) was a Lithuanian-born British actor and film director. He was born to Lithuanian Jewish parents and emigrated to Union of South Africa, South Africa at an early age, before ...

Josephine Chaplin Josephine Hannah Chaplin (March 28, 1949 – July 13, 2023) was an American actress and the daughter of filmmaker Charlie Chaplin and his fourth wife, Oona O'Neill. She had a featured role in Pier Paolo Pasolini's ''The Canterbury Tales'' (1972) ...

John Ireland John Benjamin Ireland (January 30, 1914 – March 21, 1992) was a Canadian-American actor and film director. Born in Vancouver, British Columbia and raised in New York City, he came to prominence with film audiences for his supporting roles i ...

Lila Kedrova Yelizaveta Nikolaevna Kedrova (Russian: Елизавета Николаевна Кедрова; 9 October 1909 – 16 February 2000), known as Lila Kedrova, was a Russian actress of the screen and stage. She won the Academy Award for Best Suppo ...

and

Jack Hawkins John Edward Hawkins, CBE (14 September 1910 – 18 July 1973) was an English actor who worked on stage and in film from the 1930s until the 1970s. One of the most popular British film stars of the 1950s, he was known for his portrayal of mili ...

. The film was a co-production between

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

and

West Germany West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...

. The screenplay was written by Menahem Golan and Yosef Gross, based on a short story by Uri Dan. The plot centers around a group of Jews attempting to hijack a plane to escape from a police state. The country's name is not mentioned in the film, but it is clear that it refers to the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

. The storyline is inspired by Operation Wedding, an attempted hijacking of a civilian plane on June 15, 1970, by a group of Jews, including refusal-to-emigrate individuals and human rights activists in the Soviet Union. However, the resemblance between the two is minimal. The film was shot in

West Berlin West Berlin ( or , ) was a political enclave which comprised the western part of Berlin from 1948 until 1990, during the Cold War. Although West Berlin lacked any sovereignty and was under military occupation until German reunification in 1 ...

and

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

Plot

A group of people wish to flee the

to escape anti-semitism and political repression, but their activities soon attract the attention of the KGB secret police. Yasha Barazov (

Yehuda Barkan Yehuda Barkan (; 29 March 1945 – 23 October 2020) was an Israeli actor, film producer, film director, and screenwriter. He was noted for his appearance in Israeli comedy cult classics of the 1970s, and for producing and directing candid came ...

) is an outstanding Jewish medical student nearing the completion of his studies. He faces antisemitism at the university, primarily from the student Grisha (Hartmond Heinricks), and therefore requests permission to immigrate to the United States, where his mother lives. As a result, he is expelled from the university, and even his landlady kicks him out. Yasha is engaged to Nina Kaplan (

), who lives with her mother Sarah (

). Sarah spent 10 years in exile in

Siberia Siberia ( ; , ) is an extensive geographical region comprising all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has formed a part of the sovereign territory of Russia and its predecessor states ...

, where her husband disappeared. Both Nina and Sarah have applied for immigration. Major Kirsonov (

) is a senior investigator working to reject their immigration requests. Yasha meets at the house of the banned writer Alexei Baburin (

), whose books are distributed in the West but banned in his own country. Present at the meeting are also scientist Professor Abramovich (

Peter Copley Peter Copley (20 May 1915 – 7 October 2008) was an English television, film and stage actor. Biography Copley was born in Bushey, Hertfordshire, son of the printmakers, John Copley and Ethel Gabain. After changing his mind about joining ...

) and former pilot Kagan (

). Kagan was a decorated combat pilot but was dismissed after requesting to emigrate. All these meetings are being monitored by Kirsonov's secret police. The group is joined by the Jewish photographer Romik (Yehuda Afroni), who was once an informant for the police. He is arrested and subjected to violent interrogation. Kirsonov falls in love with Nina and seeks to separate her from Yasha. Yasha receives an immigration permit, but the day before, they begin to marry secretly so Nina can later apply for family reunification. They marry in secret and spend the night at the Kaplan apartment, while Sarah spends the night at a tavern with a drunk (Caleb Rebel). The next day, they say goodbye to Yasha, who boards the plane but is arrested, imprisoned, and tortured to reveal the plans of the group he met. After some time, he is released but is still under surveillance. The group's plan is for Kagan and Romik to hijack a passenger plane, and Kagan will land it at a specific airport where the escapees will board. The plan is known to the police, and Kagan, who tries to enter the cockpit, is immediately arrested, while Romik commits suicide by shooting himself. The plane lands, and the police burst in and arrest the group of escapees. Nina and Yasha manage to flee, but Yasha is shot. They continue through the snow toward the border, but Yasha's strength wanes, and he dies in the snow. The judge (Gila Almagor) accuses the group members of betrayal. Kagan and Abramovich are sentenced to death, Sarah and Mrs. Abramovich are sentenced to ten years of hard labor, and Baburin is sentenced to long-term hospitalization in a psychiatric institution.

Cast

– Major Kirsalov *

– Nina Kaplan *

– Jacob Kaplan *

– Sarah Kaplan *

– Baburin *

– Yasha Bazarov *

Yehuda Efroni Yehuda Efroni (; 18 January 1931 – 11 April 2017) was an Israeli actor and voice actor. References External links * * 1931 births 2017 deaths Male actors from Tel Aviv Israeli male film actors Israeli male stage actors Israeli ...

– Romek *

Peter Capell Peter Capell (3 September 1912 – 3 March 1986) was a German actor who was active on screen from 1945 until 1985. Apart from a lengthy film career, he appeared in many television series and mini-series. He appeared in many old time radio pr ...

– Professor Abramowiz

Production

The film is based on a short story by author Uri Dan, and in turn based loosely on the events of the June 1970

Dymshits–Kuznetsov hijacking affair The Dymshits–Kuznetsov aircraft hijacking affair, also known as The First Leningrad Trial or Operation Wedding (, or Дело группы Дымшица-Кузнецова) (Leningrad Process), was an attempt to take an empty civilian aircraft ...

, in which a group of mostly Jews and two non-Jews unsuccessfully attempted to steal a Soviet airplane and fly it to freedom.

References

External links

* 1972 drama films 1972 films Israeli drama films Films directed by Menahem Golan French drama films West German films English-language French films English-language German films English-language Israeli films Films set in the Soviet Union Films produced by Menahem Golan Films based on short fiction Films with screenplays by Menahem Golan 1970s French films Films scored by Dov Seltzer {{1970s-drama-film-stub