Tsaplya i zhuravl

Two water birds, a crane and a heron begin an unfulfilled courtship. The story is about arrogance and a smug feeling that one can get one wants by simply being there for the other. The problem is that once the die is cast, nothing short of an apology and a self deprecating admission will break the stalemate. Hurt feelings and over statement can doom anything. And sometimes ego can ruin our happiness.

Yuriy Norshteyn stands as one of the most accomplished animators of all time, the quality of his work and his dedication to the art surpassing that of all his predecessors and contemporaries. Notorious for his ardent perfectionism (leading him to be nicknamed "the Golden Snail"), Norshteyn has never produced anything less than brilliant, every single frame a veritable work of art. 'Vremena goda / Seasons (1969)' was a gorgeous classical stroll through the Russian countryside at various time of the year. 'Yozhik v tumane / Hedgehog in the Fog (1975),' probably the director's most widely known film, is a timeless ode to the power of childhood, dreams and adventure. Norshteyn's greatest film – and, indeed, probably the finest animated film in cinema history – remains 'Skazka skazok / Tale of Tales (1979),' a heartbreaking metaphorical journey into the depths of the mind.

'Tsaplya i zhuravl / The Heron and the Crane' was released in 1974, and was written by Norshteyn and Roman Kachanov, with cinematography by the director's long-time friend Aleksandr Zhukovskiy. The story, which is based on a Russian folk tale and narrated by Innokenti Smoktunovsky, concerns the peculiar romance of two would-be lovers, Heron and Crane. Each desires to marry the other, and yet each bird's sense of pride and self-importance continually prevents them from accepting the other's marriage proposal. It is a delicate courtship ritual, a hopeless cause thwarted by either party's inability to overcome their own conceit, even if the cost is their lifelong happiness. The story really does have a sense of tragedy about it: "and so it still goes on like that, back and forth…one after the other." The Heron and the Crane are destined to remain alone for the rest of their lives, always with an unattainable happiness dancing right before their eyes.

The animation of 'The Heron and the Crane' is, of course, absolutely stunning to look at. Like 'Vremena goda' of five years earlier, it has a certain classical charm to it that is unique to Soviet cinema. The world in which the birds live is cold, bleak and foggy, and gaining the ability to animate convincing mist would have been a tremendous aid in the production of 'Hedgehog in the Fog.' For this film – and to be used in his later efforts – Norshteyn's four-person crew invented a special piece of equipment that allowed them to animate on layers of glass, give the images a unique, three-dimensional appearance. 'The Heron and the Crane' is not the director's greatest film, but it is the work of a meticulous and assured hand, and, like all his films, has a beautiful timeless essence. Unfortunately, I was only able to find the film online, and the picture quality was less than optimum. I'll be certain to look out for a clearer copy; it's very much worth it.

Soyuzmultfilm's vast output, lasting many decades and with a wide range of interesting visual styles, themes and how it has adapted famous literature (often Soviet, i.e. the work of Gogol) has given me great pleasure for almost a decade and much of their output is worthy of more credit than it has at the moment. Cannot recommend their work more highly enough. It is rare to find a studio where what has been seen of theirs, which is a vast majority in my case, has never been average or less.

With their best work being as close to perfect as Russian/Soviet animation gets. That's refreshing when one sees at least one misfire with most studios and some studios that don't even have a single good effort and their best being average at best. 'The Heron and the Crane's' director is the very talented Yuri Norstein and one of the few to of what has been seen of his not have anything bad, responsible for the masterpieces that are 'Hedgehog in the Fog' and 'Tale of Tales' (two amazing examples of classic Russian animation and animation overall) and also the sublime 'Seasons' where he shared a co-credit with Ivan Ivanov-Vano, another Russian animation maestro.

'The Heron and the Crane' in my view is not quite as good as 'Hedgehog in the Fog', 'Tale of Tales' and 'Seasons', which would actually have been a big ask. With it just lacking their amount of wide range of emotional power and not quite to the gut-wrenching extent of the first two (though it is certainly there, don't get me wrong) and complexity. It is still absolutely beautiful and anybody that loves Soyuzmultfilm and animation in general and hasn't seen it yet should do.

Like Soyuzmultfilm and Norstein overall, the animation is stunning and quite a unique visual style in this case. The backgrounds are especially good, the level of complex detail just astounds and the colours are rich and atmospheric. The music is similarly hauntingly beautiful and fits the memorable images like the best of red wine and cheese.

Although it was just said that other Norstein works had even more emotional impact, that doesn't stop 'The Heron and the Crane' from still being a moving experience. The titular characters are engaging and easy to relate to and the central relationship is not as odd as one fears before watching. Actually found it quite delicately handled and the bond resonates. The story is slight but poignant.

In a nutshell, great and well worth tracking down. 9/10