The Cranes Are Flying (Region 2) [DVD]

A high flyer which is a Russian masterpiece;
The movie starts with a beautiful "out door ballet" shot between two lovers on 'river Moskva'as they observe the 'cranes sailing like ships' overhead in the clear blue sky in a metaphor, as their human counterparts glide effortlessly on the banks of the shimmering river in the crystal clear sunshine ,and just like the cranes that fly over the Moscow sky and symbolise natural harmony and joy ,this turns forthwith into a groundbreaking movie as world war two bares it ugly fangs to destoy this heavenly vision .

The cinema here is memorable not in that deals with 'variable human values and spirituality' as mocked by the negativity of war but how it brings out the best in humanity in their worst predicaments .

The idealistic youth and his fiancee struggle to overcome the horrors as WW2 breaks out , he voluntarily goes to the front in a rush of patriotic idealism while she awaits his return in a fragile social milieu where the social fabric is being degraged by the nihilistic event in progress.

The waiting is just as harrowing while the shortfall hits the urban capital and the air raids are horrific as is the exploitation of war torn victims itself by the lesser human dregs who seek to benefit from any event which accentuates human misery and 'Tatiana Seminova' is a victim even though she never faces a German soldier,at the hands of her own compatriots and friends who exploit her loneliness and fear, in a mesmerising cinematic experience where she is sexually abused by a close friend in the midst of an air raid ,which is genius as the audio-visual affects of one assault are juxtaposed on another attack, and sexual violence and the demons of war amalgamate in a moment of true horror .

It's not the epic wide screen making but simple emotions that scorch your soul and Tatiana is a truly natural talent as her face speaks volumes ,and the screen becomes immortally transfixed by her performance just as the camera moves with the characters in fluid movements with ingenious use of sound whether it is in air raids or in bereft and bleak battle fields in the macabre forest and dingy marshes ,looking gloomy and doomed,riddled with the crackle of gunfire as individual human beings perish anonymously as random victim of stray bullets ,men are shown as anonymous as the bullets that they fall prey to in timeless memory,and you can see the precious gift of life departing their body in frozen moments , as if witnessing reality in the most powerful images i have ever seen as cold as it is emotionally turbulent .

Some of the scene compositions still look stunning or better then new as they are timelessly eternal and the poignant ending is very cerebral to say the least,the restoration of the print shows a brilliant black and white movie gem shot immaculately and lovingly .

Not to be missed as it flies high from the "Moscow suburbs to the Siberian plains" -a must flight accompanying the majestic cranes which describe the relativity of time in all it's vices and virtues -thus defining pessimism and hope, and the intractable reversion of optimism after a gloomy night of misery that is war itself giving way to peace even if it is merely temporary .

Fabulous cinematography from Sergei Urusevsky help to make this a stunning piece of work. The opening scenes are as if one is leafing through some master photographer's album and as the story begins to unfold we are swept away with both the events depicted and the beautiful look. All is well shot but there are several whole sequences that are simply breathtaking. Difficult to describe without `spoiling' but suffice to say there is a very intense scene during an air raid and the lady left behind and her lover's brother are at odds as the sirens whine and the windows shatter. Another superimposes a swirling staircase and a spinning shot of tree tops and even develops into a fantasy sequence. Soviet film making of the highest order.

THis is probably the best Russian film of its time - both in its approach to the tragic and sensitive topic of the WWII, in its casting and acting, in its camera work and director's interpretation. Tatyana Samoylova, who won in Cannes with this role, - is at her absolute best in this film - her character is complex and developing and we can see the changes that are happening to her in front of our own eyes. Brillant work of Alexey Batalov and the rest of the cast.
Cinematographically this film was quite a break through at the time - the camera work is superb - worth watching even just for that.
Overall - it is a timeless classic of Russian cinema - a must for everyone who is interested in Russia, cinema and WWII.