The Cranes Are Flying Review
By Christopher Null
But of course, Boris is dead, and the bulk of the film deals with Veronica's guilt over her abandonment of her sweetheart without actually knowing his fate.
Winner of the Palm d'Or at the 1958 Cannes film festival, Mikheil Kalatozishvili's The Cranes Are Flying is visual poetry, stunningly photographed with extreme close-ups, tracking crowd scenes, and gorgeous long shots in every sequence. The story is less fulfilling than the similar Russian war movie Ballad of a Soldier (which Criterion is also releasing on DVD on the same day), but its splendor is far greater. The WWII set recreations are ultra-realistic (and often remind the viewer of Schindler's List), even if Samojlova's attempts at "grief" fall a bit short.
The film is recommended, especially for anyone interested in WWII or Russian history.
Aka Letjat zhuravli.
Facts and Figures
Year: 1957
Run time: 97 mins
In Theaters: Monday 21st March 1960
Distributed by: Warner Bros. Pictures
Production compaines: Mosfilm
Reviews
Contactmusic.com: 3.5 / 5
Rotten Tomatoes: 95%
Fresh: 18 Rotten: 1
IMDB: 8.2 / 10
Cast & Crew
Director: Mikheil Kalatozishvili
Producer: Mikheil Kalatozishvili
Screenwriter: Viktor Rozov
Starring: Tatyana Samoylova as Veronika, Aleksey Batalov as Boris, Vasiliy Merkurev as Fyodor Ivanovich, Aleksandr Shvorin as Mark
Also starring: Tatyana Samojlova, Aleksei Batalov, Vasili Merkuryev, Svetlana Kharitonova, Mikheil Kalatozishvili, Viktor Rozov