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White Nights

1985 · 136 min

A tense Cold War escape thriller lifted by electrifying dance sequences and a moving friendship between two defectors.

Directed by
Taylor Hackford
Genres
Drama, Thriller
Starring
Mikhail Baryshnikov, Gregory Hines, Jerzy Skolimowski
Tagline
Two men. Not soldiers. Not heroes. Just dancers. Willing to risk their lives for freedom-and each other.
Overview
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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Rent or buy in the UK
  • Apple TV Store
  • Amazon Video
  • YouTube
More options Data from JustWatch
Directed by
Taylor Hackford
Genres
Drama, Thriller
Starring
Mikhail Baryshnikov, Gregory Hines, Jerzy Skolimowski
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How it feels

Written by AI. It can be wrong.

Tone
  • tensestrength 2 of 3
  • earneststrength 2 of 3
  • melancholicstrength 1 of 3
  • upliftingstrength 1 of 3
Pacing
measured, 2 of 4, from slow-burn to relentless
Attention
engaged, 3 of 4, from background-friendly to demanding
Themes
  • freedom
  • friendship
  • betrayal
  • identity
  • survival
Places
  • big city
  • single country house
Era
contemporary
Audience
adult
Form
  • single location
Content intensity
  • Gore mild
  • Language mild
  • Violence mild
  • Sex mild
All scales, 0 to 10
Scales, 0 to 10
ScaleValue0 to 10
Action5
Horror1
Humour3
Realism7
Romance4
Tension7
Darkness6
Complexity5
Emotional weight7

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Where to watch in the UK

Rent or buy
  • Apple TV Store
  • Amazon Video
  • YouTube

Streaming data from JustWatch.All options on TMDB

Details

Genres
drama, thriller
Directed by
Taylor Hackford
Written by
James Goldman, Eric Hughes
Starring
Mikhail Baryshnikov, Gregory Hines, Jerzy Skolimowski, Helen Mirren, Geraldine Page, Isabella Rossellini, John Glover, Stefan Gryff
Music
Michel Colombier
Cinematography
David Watkin
Runtime
136 min
Country
United States of America
Languages
French, English, Russian

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