The Cranes Are Flying

The Cranes Are Flying (Russian: Летят журавли, translit. Letyat zhuravli) is a 1957 Soviet war drama film directed and produced by Mikhail Kalatozov at Mosfilm, written by Viktor Rozov, and starring Aleksey Batalov and Tatiana Samoilova. It depicts the cruelty and the damage done to the Soviet psyche as a result of the Second World War, which was known in the Soviet Union as the Great Patriotic War.

The film had a profound impact on Soviet cinema, and won the Palme d'Or at the 1958 Cannes Film Festival, the only Soviet film to win that award.

In Moscow, on June 22, 1941, Veronika and her boyfriend Boris watch cranes fly over the city as the sun rises and then sneak back into their families' apartments. Hours later, Boris’s cousin Mark wakes him with the news that the Germans have invaded.

Veronika soon learns that Boris has volunteered for the army. Boris asks his grandmother to give Veronika her birthday gift, a stuffed squirrel toy ("squirrel" is Boris's pet name for Veronika), into which he slides a love note. Veronika arrives too late to see Boris at his apartment, but his grandmother gives Veronika the stuffed squirrel.

Veronika searches for Boris at the assembly station for those being drafted into the army, but he has already marched off to war by then. Veronika remains in Moscow with her parents, who are killed in a German air raid that also destroys their apartment building. Boris's family invites the orphaned Veronika to stay with them.

Boris's cousin Mark tells Veronika he loves her, but she faithfully waits for Boris to return. Veronika and Mark are alone in the apartment when another air raid occurs. Mark makes a pass at her, but she rebuffs him. Furious at being rejected, he rapes her. Veronika and Mark marry, but she despises him, and in turn, she is despised by the family who considers her to have betrayed Boris.

At the front, Boris gets into an argument with another soldier, Volodya, who taunts him over a photo of Veronika. Their commanding officer catches them fighting and assigns them a dangerous reconnaissance mission. Boris saves Volodya’s life, but gets shot himself. In his final moments, he has a vision of the wedding that he and Veronika would never have.

To escape the German offensive, the family is relocated to Siberia. Veronika works as a nurse in a military hospital run by Boris's father, Fyodor. Mark and Veronika are miserable in their marriage. When a soldier in the hospital becomes hysterical after receiving a letter saying his girlfriend left him for someone else, Veronika rushes to get Fyodor, who is processing the arrival of wounded troops.