The Cranes are Flying (The Criterion Collection) [Blu-ray]

This landmark film by the virtuosic Mikhail Kalatozov was heralded as a revelation in the post-Stalin Soviet Union and the international cinema community alike. It tells the story of Veronica and Boris, a couple who are blissfully in love until the eruption of World War II tears them apart. With Boris at the front, Veronica must try to ward off spiritual numbness and defend herself from the increasingly forceful advances of her beau’s draft-dodging cousin. Winner of the Palme d’Or at the 1958 Cannes Film Festival, The Cranes Are Flying is a superbly crafted drama with impassioned performances and viscerally emotional, gravity-defying cinematography by Kalatozov’s regular collaborator Sergei Urusevsky. SPECIAL EDITION BLU-RAY FEATURES • New 2K digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack • New interview with scholar Ian Christie on why the film is a landmark of Soviet cinema • Audio interview from 1961 with director Mikhail Kalatozov • Hurricane Kalatozov, a documentary from 2009 on the Georgian director’s complex relationship with the Soviet government • Segment from a 2008 program about the film’s cinematography, featuring original storyboards and an interview with actor Alexei Batalov • Interview from 2001 with filmmaker Claude Lelouch on the film’s French premiere at the 1958 Cannes Film Festival • New English subtitle translation • PLUS: An essay by critic Chris Fujiwara