this movie win a special award at cannes for it acting and it not difficult to see why . ( a few spoiler but for the end and you will have to watch the movie . ) a simple story in moscow on the eve of war between russia and germany in ww ii veronika ( tatiana samoilova ) be in love with boris ( aleksei batalov ) but they have a spat when she learn that he have enlist in the army . boris leave for the front before veronika can tell him she love him . boris be shoot but his ultimate fate remain unknown to veronika or his family . mark and boris cousin and rape veronika who feel obligate to marry him . degrade and demean by the cowardly mark and veronika cling to the hope that someday boris will return . superb camera work and wonderful set piece by director kalatozov . ( for anyone interested in film technique another movie by kalatozov and i be cuba and have at least two superb set piece one of them a long tracking shot that begin with a funeral procession through the street of havana and rise two story to a cigar factory and track though the window and follow the procession down a long and long avenue all without a cut . ) superb act and particularly by samoilova and vasili merkuryev ( a boris uncle ) that be make all the more poignant by sheer understatement . a devastatingly romantic movie with a heart stop performance by samoilova . ( this movie be frequently link with the other russian classic ballad of a soldier . ) .