WINNER OF THE PRESTIGIOUS PALME D’OR Winner of both the Palme d’Or and the Best Actress Award (for Tatiana Samojlova) at the 1958 Cannes Film Festival and nominated for two BAFTA Awards (Best Film and Best Foreign Actress) in 1959, Mikheil Kalatozishvili’s THE CRANES ARE FLYING is a masterpiece of visual storytelling. One of the first post-war Soviet films to receive any kind of exposure outside the USSR, the film was partly responsible for reintroducing Soviet cinema to the rest of the world.An affecting love story set during World War II, THE CRANES ARE FLYING concerns Boris (Alexei Batalov) and Veronica (Tatiana Samojlova), two young lovers whose idyllic existence is threatened when Boris volunteers to serve in the Russian army in the fight against the invading Germans. Circumstances conspire against the pair when, the day before Veronica’s birthday, Boris receives his orders to report for duty. Bad timing means the tragic lovers are forced apart without having time to share their farewells and Veronica fails to discover a note Boris has left for her.As Boris faces the horror of war on the frontline, so Veronica must fight a different, but equally distressing battle on the home front, first when she loses her parents in a bombing raid, and secondly when she has to deal with the unwelcome advances of Boris’ draft-dodging cousin.As it progresses, Kalatozishvili’s remarkable film paints a poignant portrait of innocent individuals striving to survive the trials of tragedy, hardship and heartbreak brought about by the war.
Tender, tragic and unusually free of the kind of propaganda common in Russian films of the era, THE CRANES ARE FLYING is a captivating achievement, full of striking imagery and dazzling cinematography and mobile camerawork, which proved to be years ahead of its time.
THE CRANES ARE FLYING (cert. PG) will be released on DVD (£19.99) by Nouveaux Pictures on 29th January 2007. Special Features include interview with actor Alexei Batalov, featurette on actress Tatiana Samoilava, Chronicle, photo gallery, filmographies, English 5.1 (dubbed), Russian mono with English subtitles, Russian 5.1 with English subtitles and chapter selection.The Cranes Are Flying