Although it is not necessarily the most profound film ever made, Russian Director Mikheil Kalatozishvili’s 1957 film, The Cranes are Flying, is nonetheless a wonderful story of pure love interrupted by the most evil of forces: war. And in light of this romantic tragedy, the film also paints the a beautiful picture of the horrors of war from the points of view of both the frontlines and the homefront. Viktor Rozov penned the screenplay for this film from his own stageplay, and the story centers around the lives of Veronika (played by Tatyana Samojlova) and Boris (played by Aleksei Batalov), two young Russians with nothing but the world ahead of them.
The movie opens on our blissful, light-hearted, couple, enjoying the wonders of the day. The romance itself is very believable, and heartfelt. And immediately the film sets up its central symbol for the two lovers - that of a flock of cranes flying high above, in a V-Shaped formation, as the lovers stand staring up, beneath a large bridge. Of course, the very title of the film refers to this flock, and in many respects, the V-Shaped formation is a sign of things to come: the terrible, pointed onslaught of war combined with the idea of the cycle of nature and the fact that life will go on, no matter what.
We soon learn however that Boris has secretly volunteered to be a part of the war, and so when the Nazis invade Russia, Boris and Veronika’s young love is torn apart as Boris is sent off to fight. There are some wonderful scenes illustrating Boris’s last few days with his friends and his family, and the power of Tatyana Samojlova’s acting comes through vividly on screen, as we feel the love, anger and confusion welling up inside her during these events, every moment she’s on the screen. And of course, it seems things can only get worse for our young heroine, as her parents soon die during an air raid, and she ends up moving in with Boris’s family, helping out at the hospital where Boris’s father tends the wounded soldiers.
Throughout the film, the audience is presented with a horrible dilemma: the knowledge of a note Boris has left for Veronika inside a small toy he’s left for her as a birthday present. It is as if this note is to make up for the fact that their will be no time to write during this war, and even though we know this, it is heartbreaking to know that Veronika doesn’t. And like Romeo and Juliet, the film slowly builds up her own internal distress and confusion, and we watch as she slowly slips into depression, forced to accept the mediocrity in life.
Slowly, she is worn down, and marries Mark, Boris’s cousin who has gained exemption from fighting in the war by what may turn out to be questionable means. And the movie goes on, rather quickly towards its resolution, in true tragic definition, and we are left wondering right up until the end whether or not Boris and Veronika’s love will ever be fulfilled.
Overall, The Cranes are Flying is a very effective film. It’s beautifully shot, and uses many very innovative camera techniques to not only present the story, but to reflect the emotions of the characters in it. The film climaxes early-on, in a brilliant scene that occur’s in Veronika’s flat, where Mark performs a piece on the piano in a very violent fashion, as an air raid drops bombs around them, and the entire scene is full of repressed sexuality, frustration and confusion, and is many ways eerily reminiscent of Spielberg’s own piano playing scene that would later occur in Schindler’s List.
The entire arch of the film is surreal and dreamlike, and its ending presents for us the realities of a ghoulish nightmare. And even though we are never given pictures of battle on scale with movies like Saving Private Ryan or Enemy at the Gates, we do feel the enormous weight of the war that surrounds these characters.
In the end, The Cranes are Flying is a film worth watching. Currently, it is available on DVD from Criterion, and although it has no extras, it is presented in a wonderfully restored print that really highlights the perfection of the black & white images as presented on screen. Again, the story is simple enough, but it is effective in its universal message that war is hell, and that the importance of individuality and personal freedom of expression should always come before the collective will.
My Grade for ’’The Cranes Are Flying’’: A -
(Movie originally reviewed on October 15, 2002)
(This film is in Russian with English Subtitles)