Cinema
The Cranes Are Flying
Летят журавли
Mikhail Kalatozov · 1957
Synopsis
Moscow, 22 June 1941. At dawn, Veronika and Boris, who are in love, watch cranes pass over the city. A few hours later, the German invasion is announced. Boris volunteers for the army and leaves Veronika a stuffed squirrel in which he has hidden a note; she arrives too late to say goodbye. Left in Moscow without news of him, she lives under the bombing.
Context
Viktor Rozov wrote the screenplay; the cinematography is by Sergei Urusevsky, the music by Mieczysław Weinberg. Tatiana Samoilova plays Veronika and Aleksei Batalov Boris, with Vasily Merkuriev and Aleksandr Shvorin. Produced by Mosfilm, the film was released in 1957 and received the Palme d'Or at the 1958 Cannes Film Festival; it is the only Soviet film to have won it.
Who it is for
A war drama of about an hour and a half, centred on the woman who stays behind, in the city.
Prizes and reception
Honoured at Cannes, where its lead actress, Tatiana Samoilova, also received a special mention from the jury.