Turned Towards the Sun

If the astonishing true-life story of British writer and poet Micky Burn MC had been written as a novel, readers would readily accept it as invented. Born in Mayfair in 1912, his father worked for the Royal family. He became the lover of the communist spy Guy Burgess, and would initially be taken in by Nazism, expressing an admiration for Hitler. In 1942, he took part in a daring commando assault on the fortified French port of St Nazaire, where he was captured, and he ended the war a POW in Colditz. He would latterly become a committed Marxist and be credited with saving the life of Audrey Hepburn. American director Greg Olliver, who has previously documented the life of rock star Lemmy, started making this film in 2008, revisiting significant events and places in Burn’s life. Burn is presented here as a candid and witty raconteur, with a sharp mind and vivid recollections. He died in 2010, which leaves Turned Towards the Sun as a fitting eulogy to a remarkable figure.