The Cranes are Flying

Winner of the Cannes Palme d’or in 1958, Kalatozov’s stunning recreation of wartime emotions effectively signalled to the world a ‘thaw’ in the Soviet cultural climate, ushering in the Khrushchev era. Sweethearts Veronica and Boris are separated by the outbreak of the Second World War, and endure some of the privations of ordinary Russians – except that in Urusevsky’s soaring images, these have an almost transcendent quality.