This Russian / Soviet Union film was featured in the 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die, a book that has helped me find many foreign language and general films I otherwise would never have done so, I hoped this would be another one I would enjoy. Basically walking the streets of Moscow, Russia, are happy couple Veronika (BAFTA nominated Tatyana Samoylova) and Boris (Aleksey Batalov), they are laughing together and are very much in love, they look in the morning sky to see the cranes are flying. Arriving at Veronika's house they discuss a rendezvous at the bank of the river, but World War II has started and Boris, a factory worker, is drafted in to volunteer and join the army, this occurs before Veronika's birthday, and they do not have the chance to say goodbye. As time passes Veronika waits for news from Boris, she spends some time with his cousin Mark (Aleksandr Shvorin), she is raped by him, but for some bizarre reason she marries him, she obviously moves on from the attack, but this marriage does not stop her waiting for Boris to return. The soldiers do return from battle, Boris is nowhere to be seen, Veronika is in floods of tears when she discovers that he is indeed dead, his friend Stepan (Valentin Zubkov) makes a speech that no-one will forget those who died in the war, and on a hopeful note Veronika hands out a bouquet of flowers to the returning soldiers. Also starring Vasiliy Merkurev as Fyodor Ivanovich, Svetlana Kharitonova as Irina, Konstantin Kadochnikov as Volodya and Antonina Bogdanova as Grandmother. Samoylova is good as the young hospital worker parted with her lover and in a loveless marriage, the love story element is fine, but the most eye-catching moments for me are in the battlefields of the Second World War, it is not the most exciting film I have seen of this sort, but it has some good moments, all in all it's not a bad romantic drama. It was nominated the BAFTA for Best Film from any Source. Worth watching!
Review of The Cranes Are Flying
