Letyat zhuravli

"The compelling story of a girl's impassioned search for happiness."

Mar 21 1960 Not Rated 1h 35m
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.

Plot

As the clouds of war spread over Russia during Germany's surprise invasion in 1941, the fervent young lovers, the sensitive Veronika and the stalwart Boris, are parted when the patriotic lad secretly volunteers for the war effort. During the following hard years, Veronika who serves her country as a wartime-nurse will lose communication with Boris, moreover, when a devastating air raid destroys her house and Boris' father takes her in to live with the family, unexpectedly, things will take a turn for the worse. Before long, the worried fiancée will find herself dealing not only with the dark thoughts of Boris' potential loss but also with the burden of an unwelcome decision. Once, the star-crossed lovers swore eternal devotion under a flock of flying cranes, still, a war is always cruel and eternally disastrous.

Written by

Viktor Rozov

Directed by

Mikhail Kalatozov

Cast

Tatyana Samoylova, Aleksey Batalov, Vasiliy Merkurev

Crew

View crew

Production Countries

Soviet Union

Production Companies

Mosfilm

Languages

Awards

Nominated for 2 BAFTA 4 wins & 3 nominations total

Trailers
The Cranes are Flying (1957)
Film Trailer: Letyat zhuravli / The Cranes Are Flying
Scores
# of Votes
20,948
Average Rating
8.3 out of 10
Metascore
NA
Popularity
NA