050 - The Cranes Are Flying, 1957, Soviet Union. Dir. Mikhail Kalatozov.

Sunday, February 19, 2017

050 - The Cranes Are Flying, 1957, Soviet Union. Dir. Mikhail Kalatozov.

Boris and Veronica are in love.

Mark loves Veronica too.  Mark is Boris's cousin.  Mark lives with Boris.

Veronica does not love Mark.

Can you smell trouble?

Oh, those love triangles.  They make things complicated.

It is war time.

Both men are intelligent, talented, gifted, and could get an exemption from the war.

This is the Soviet Union.  The best and brightest are spared.

Boris does not seek an exemption.  He volunteers.  He is a hero.

Mark gets an exemption.

Boris calls Veronica Squirrel.  He gets her a toy squirrel for her birthday and places a love letter beneath some golden nuts in its basket.  She does not find the letter.

She goes to say Goodbye but cannot find him in the crowd.  The men march off.

The city is bombed.  Veronica's home is bombed.  She cannot find her parents.

Boris's father moves her in to take care of her.

He knows that she will marry Boris when he returns.  She will be his future daughter-in-law.

He and his wife work at the hospital.  They take care of the wounded.  They work night and day, so they are not home very much.

Therefore, he asks Mark to take care of Veronica.

Can you smell trouble?

Tatiana Samoilova plays Veronica with psychological depth and complexity.

The film won the Palme d'Or at the 1958 Cannes Film Festival.

Boris and Veronica used to look up at the sky and watch the cranes flying in a V-shaped pattern.

He wrote a poem.

She quoted it.

She awaits his letters.