Nikita Mikhalov’s Burnt By The Sun won best foreign film at the 1994 Oscars, the Grand Prix at the Cannes film festival and was feted internationally for its epic portrayal of a Red Army Officer struggling through the Great Purges of the 1930s.  Burnt by the Sun 2, Citadel, was almost panned by many critics and sunk at the box office, winning the unenviable title of the country’s biggest box office flop to date.  Unsurprising therefore, that many film pundits are wondering why the latter has been chosen to represent Russian cinema at next year’s Oscars.