Quando volano le cicogne

Sometimes you see a film and it knocks you for six. Sometimes those films are unknown to most people. The Cranes Are Flying is one of those films. Made in Soviet Russia in 1957, the films starts with the romance of Veronika and Boris, a romance that is rudely interrupted when he volunteers to go to the front during WWII. After the lose of her own family, Boris' family invite her to live with them, only for his brother who found exemption from fighting 'forcing' her into marriage. The family are forced to move to Siberia to escape the onslaught of the Germans and it is here Veronika learns the fate of her real love.

The film's main plot, the love story, is tragic, but the film as a whole is as tragic in it's depiction of war and the immense effect it has on people. Through fine performances the cast bring another episode of war to life, with drama, joy, despair and hope. Director Mikhail Kalatozov achieves something else, a masterpiece of film making. The film contains some of the most remarkable camera work you'll likely to see in a pre-CGI film world. One of the early scenes where Boris runs up flights of stairs as the camera pans and follows in one take is a hint of things to come. That scene is mirrored when Veronika returns to her family apartment to find it bombed and runs up the same stairwell, that hangs among the ruins and fire. There are fine tracking shots, such as where Veronica runs along the dispatch area or when she runs along the train track. Another stand out scene is where Veronica is 'trapped' by the brother during an air raid, the noise loud, the camera angles obscure, the lighting jarred and ominous, it's a powerful moment, among many throughout the film.

The audience learns the fate of Boris way before Veronica, who tries to hang onto hope that he will return. Her love grows ever more when she discovers the note he left in the toy squirrel. The powerful end scenes, when the truth is revealed are stunningly effective, full of emotion and the horror of what war can create in people.

War films are often too busy concentrating on the battles itself, but occasionally a film will explore the real battle, the one that humanity has to endure on a personal level.

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Sick of the current cinema output, particularly American cinema, I've been making an effort to see the Oscar-winning foreign films. That's when I came across this gem. Slow to start, it picks up nicely once war is declared. Basically an old fashioned girl-waits-for-boy-to-return-from-war-story, the performances, the cinematography make this so very much more. Why Tatyana Samojlova as the young woman didn't become an international star after this is beyond me(though she has remained successful in her own country). You take the journey with her: young, defiant impetuous young girl, who, through the ravages of war becomes a very sober, somber woman who keeps a glimmer of hope (her final scene is devastating). We love her as much as the camera does. And the camera-work! Was this the pioneer in hand-held camera work? It truly adds an immediacy to the story. And the beauty of it (like when Tatyana's character is running up stairs and next to a slatted fence). I am humbled and grateful to see this film.

more than a movie, it is a special experience. more than part of a period, it is a form of revelation. for extraordinaries images. for splendid shots. for the simple story. for drama. for the delicacy for present a profound tragedy. for the acting. to see The Cranes are flying is an event. for soul. and for the mind. a travel in time. and rediscover the basic values who defines each life. it is difficult to define it . because it is not only beautiful or seductive, touching or impressive. it is a honest testimony, a kind of window in the Soviet regime's gray reality. a film about love and about war. about innocence. and about survey. about the existence as drawing used the basic colors. see it ! for discover a new frame for your life. and new meanings for every day fights.

I had seen director Kalatozov's "I am Cuba" before I saw this movie. I loved the camera work in "I am Cuba", but I felt that the story was too rigid, too much of a propaganda piece, too much of an advertisement for my taste. The characters weren't real enough, not fully developed. It felt as if I were watching types of people rather than actual people. In "The Cranes are Flying", which Kalatozov made prior to "I am Cuba", I didn't find the same problem. The story is thoroughly engaging, and I felt a whole range of emotions. The lead character, specifically is so real, I think she will haunt my dreams. She is played by Tatyana Samojlova who deserves special acclaim. She is dazzling. Her sweet charm reminded me of Audrey Hepburn, and yet Samojlova's acting seems to have a broader range. Hers is more realistic in a way that feels ahead of its time in 1957. Her wild despair is in a league with the best emoter actresses, such as Natalie Wood, Isabelle Adjani, Juliette Binoche.

I must mention, also, that the cinematography is so crisp, it seems to be 4 decades ahead of its time. As far as composition and movement of the camera, I'd say it has strains of several styles, including German Expressionism of the 20's and 30's, and the stormy noir melodramas of the '40s, like "Out of the Past" (1947).

This is a romantic, dramatic movie that looks long and hard at the repercussions of war, and yes, it does have a message and it certainly hammers it home, but still I think it stays more clearly in the realm of universal themes, rather than falling into the propagandist ditch.

In summary, I don't think I have ever seen better acting, better camera work, better editing, or better direction in any movie made previous to it. There were some scenes made with such planning and precision that I had to press "PAUSE" just to catch my breath. Lovers of movie history, enjoy!

One of those films that I happened across through The Criterion Collection and as usual indulged as a change of pace. That turned out to be a great decision. I was almost mesmerised by the quality of the film, the story it told and the way it was told. The almost minimalist feel to the film with sparse dialogue and almost constant music just added a whole evocative level to the film. This really is a superb film to spend some time with and enjoy.