German leader Angela Merkel saw the movie in Russia during the 2010 St. Petersburg business forum and had a special meeting with director Nikita Mikhalkov
The title song is "To ostatnia niedziela" written in 1935 by Jerzy Petersburski with Polish lyrics by Zenon Fredwald. In 1936 the first Russian version was recorded by Klavdiya Shulzhenko. That same year, Aleksandr Tsfasman recorded his version with new Russian lyrics by Iosif Albeck who wrote the opening line: "Utomlyonnoe solntse... " Burnt by the Sun is a loose English translation of the song title, alluding to Soviet dictatorship hoisting Stalin to the sun.