The Cranes Are Flying

1957

1h 37m

IMDb RATING

7.9/10

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2 Videos

67 Images

Drama

Romance

War

Veronika and Boris come together in Moscow shortly before World War II. Walking along the river, they watch cranes fly overhead, and promise to rendezvous before Boris leaves to fight. Boris misses the meeting and is off to the front lines, while Veronika waits patiently, sending letters faithfully. After her house is bombed, Veronika moves in with Boris' family, into the company of a cousin with his own intentions.

Directors

Mikhail Kalatozov

Writers

Viktor Rozov(writer by)

Vadim Korostylyov(lyricist by)

Grigoriy Mariamov(script editor by)

Stars

Tatyana Samoylova

Aleksey Batalov

Vasili Merkuryev

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Videos2

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Watch Film Trailer: Letyat zhuravli / The Cranes Are Flying
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Watch The Cranes are Flying (1957)

Photos67

Top cast

Veronika

Boris

Fyodor Ivanovich

Mark

Irina

Konstantin Kadochnikov

Volodya

Valentin Zubkov

Stepan

Antonina Bogdanova

Grandmother

Boris Kokovkin

Chernov

Ekaterina Kupriyanova

Anna Mikhaylovna

Valentina Ananina

Lyuba

Valentina Vladimirova

Woman Soldier

Olga Dzisko

Dasha

Leonid Knyazev

Sachkov

Georgiy Kulikov

Anatoliy Aleksandrovich Kuzmin

Daniil Netrebin

Wounded Man

Aleksandr Popov

Borya

Irina Preis

Antonina Nikolayevna Monastyrskaya

Directors

Mikhail Kalatozov

Writers

Viktor Rozov(writer by)

Vadim Korostylyov(lyricist by)

Grigoriy Mariamov(script editor by)

All cast & crew

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User reviews3

Review

Featured review

7/10

Just as "Veronika" (Tatyana Samoylova) and her boyfriend "Boris" (Aleksey Batalov) are arranging a rendezvous by the river, someone only goes and starts a war! That puts a major spanner in the works for this loving couple as he promptly volunteers for the Soviet army to repel the encroaching Nazi army. With her signing up to be a nurse and him on the front line, it's hard for them to stay in touch and that's when, with the bombs flying and the tongues wagging, confusion and misunderstandings set in that cause no end of strife for this young woman struggling to deal with the increasing conflict - physical and emotional - in her life. Those issues become even more poignant for "Veronika" when she is the victim of the unwanted attentions of his cousin "Mark" (Aleksandr Shvorin) which leads to a marriage that few understand the reasons for and that can only further demoralise "Boris" should he ever find out that his true love has deserted him to his fate. It's a flock of cranes that symbolise their affection at the start of the film, and it's that very consistency that they hope will see them through their lives - regardless of what goes on between peoples with bombs and bullets. Is that just a naive pipe dream, though, or is there really any hope when so much conspires against them? The effort here from Samoylova is both strong and touching, especially as the film enters is much darker and more desperate second phase. The camera loves her face, her eyes and her facial expressions and she uses that tool to convey an whole gamut of emotions effectively. Shvorin also delivers well as his character introduces a little of the manipulative and the cowardly bully to a scenario that extols the virtues of family and community but not in a perfect fashion. People adapt to circumstances in individual ways. The photography has an observational intensity to it that at times makes you feel like you ought not to be watching at all, particularly in the hospital where "Uncle Fyodor" (Vasily Merkurev) is constantly dealing with casualties amongst both his patients and his staff! It's a very human story of wartime, and set amidst the snowy wastes and ruins tells that powerfully and quite compellingly.

Geronimo196714 Dec, 2024