''Red Hot'' is a 1993 Canadian

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. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

directed by

Paul Haggis Paul Edward Haggis (born March 10, 1953) is a Canadian screenwriter, film producer, and director of film and television. He is best known as screenwriter and producer for consecutive Best Picture Oscar winners '' Million Dollar Baby'' (2004) and ...

.''The New York Times''
/ref> The film was Haggis' feature film directorial debut. Filmed in

Riga Riga (; lv, Rīga , liv, Rīgõ) is the capital and largest city of Latvia and is home to 605,802 inhabitants which is a third of Latvia's population. The city lies on the Gulf of Riga at the mouth of the Daugava river where it meets the Ba ...

Latvia Latvia ( or ; lv, Latvija ; ltg, Latveja; liv, Leţmō), officially the Republic of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Republika, links=no, ltg, Latvejas Republika, links=no, liv, Leţmō Vabāmō, links=no), is a country in the Baltic region of ...

, it is set in Soviet Union-time Riga of 1950s.

Plot

Alexi, a poor

music school A music school is an educational institution specialized in the study, training, and research of music. Such an institution can also be known as a school of music, music academy, music faculty, college of music, music department (of a larger ins ...

student in Riga in 1957, is gifted some contraband American

rock and roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock 'n' roll, or rock 'n roll) is a Genre (music), genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It Origins of rock and roll, originated from Africa ...

records from his traveling uncle Dimitri. Alexi gains work as a music tutor for his fellow student Valentina, the daughter of a wealthy KGB commander, and gives her a copy of one of the records recorded onto an X-ray. A record dropped by Alexi on the street is found by a KGB officer named Gurevitch, who begins investigating Valentina and her parents. In order to secretly form a band, Alexi and his friends Yorgi and Yuri buy American instruments from the black market dealer Leonid, who also provides information to Gurevitch. Dimitri is arrested by Gurevitch but Valentina's father Mr. Kirov has Gurevitch transferred to

Kurdistan Kurdistan ( ku, کوردستان ,Kurdistan ; lit. "land of the Kurds") or Greater Kurdistan is a roughly defined geo-cultural territory in Western Asia wherein the Kurds form a prominent majority population and the Kurdish culture, Kurdish la ...

and destroys all records of the investigation. Valentina stops meeting with Alexi at the request of her father. Alexi skips his audition to get into the

academy An academy ( Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy ...

and instead goes to an abandoned warehouse where his band is to perform a secret concert that night. After giving their audition performances, the other students from the school attend the concert as well. Gurevitch informs the KGB, who arrive with tanks and arrest Valentina and Alexi. Alexi serves seven years in prison, after which he and Valentina escape to

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...

and request political asylum.

Cast

Balthazar Getty Paul Balthazar Getty (; born January 22, 1975) is an American actor and musician. His acting debut was in ''Lord of the Flies'' (1990) as Ralph. He went on to appear in '' Lost Highway'' (1997) and had a recurring role as Richard Montana in ''Cha ...

as Alexi *

Carla Gugino Carla Gugino (; born August 29, 1971) is an American actress. After appearing in ''Troop Beverly Hills'' (1989) and ''This Boy's Life'' (1993), she received recognition for her starring roles as Ingrid Cortez in the ''Spy Kids'' trilogy (2001� ...

as Valentina *

Jan Niklas Jan Niklas (born 15 October 1947) is a German film and television actor. He is best known for appearing in TV films such as '' Peter The Great'', '' Anastasia: The Mystery of Anna'' and '' Anne Frank: The Whole Story''. He won a Golden Globe Aw ...

as Yorgi *

Hugh O'Conor Hugh O'Conor (born 19 April 1975) is an Irish actor, writer, director, and photographer. In 2020, he was listed as number 49 on ''The Irish Times'' list of Ireland's greatest film actors. Career His first film appearance was opposite Liam Neeso ...

as Yuri *

Armin Mueller-Stahl Armin Mueller-Stahl (born 17 December 1930) is a retired German film actor, painter and author, who also appeared in numerous English-language films since the 1980s. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role i ...

as Dimitri *

Donald Sutherland Donald McNichol Sutherland (born 17 July 1935) is a Canadian actor whose film career spans over six decades. He has been nominated for nine Golden Globe Awards, winning two for his performances in the television films ''Citizen X'' (1995) an ...

as Kirov *

George de la Peña George de la Peña (born December 9, 1955) is an American ballet dancer, musical theatre performer, choreographer, actor, and teacher. He was born in 1955 in New York City, New York. Originally trained as a concert pianist, de la Peña switched t ...

as Gurevitch * Martin McKellan as Leonid

References

External links

* * * 1993 films 1993 directorial debut films 1990s high school films 1990s musical drama films 1993 romantic drama films Canadian musical drama films Canadian romantic drama films English-language Canadian films Columbia Pictures films Films about music and musicians Films about musical groups Films directed by Paul Haggis Films set in 1957 Films set in Riga Canadian independent films Films with screenplays by Paul Haggis Canadian rock music films 1990s English-language films 1990s Canadian films {{1990s-Canada-film-stub