director mikhail kalatozov film the crane be fly ( letyat zhuravli ) be a glorious piece of cinema . from the screenplay by viktor rozov and base on his own play and kalatozov show u a vision of the heroism of war and the suffering by those leave at home . inundate with countless war movie show u the frontlines and the carnage and the topic itself become tedious and avoidable . however and this russian gem show how the tale of hardship can be tell in a different way while by tell u and straight from a soldier mouth how war be hat by all and that they hope those who die do so for a cause that will allow for peace and the end of fight and we see a new vision of wwii . we have young men volunteer to wage war for peace and to keep their family and love one safe at home rather than draftee fight a battle they do not believe in . with so much hatred towards our current situation in the middle east and and how people be die for no reason and against their will and it nice to see a film that show just how selfless and heroic these soldier be and as well a those await their return . communist russia show how involved all be in the war . while boris may have volunteer to go to the frontlines and his father be head doctor of a hospital aiding in the mending of soldier injure and his sister be help him there as well a his girl veronika and do all she can to keep her mind off the fact that no letter have arrive from her love . an entire city come out to send the boy off in celebration . even the factory that boris and his friend stepan work for send representative over with gift of gratitude . whether this be all a glorified look into russia at the outset of wwii or not and i do not know . there be no protest or badmouthing of these boy risk their life for a country and it be all praise and thanks . some in america could learn a lesson from this because whether you agree with the war at hand or not and protest and wreak havoc in it name only sully what these men and woman be sacrifice each and everyday . the acting be top notch throughout and but some deserve single out . i really enjoyed antonina bogdanova in a small role a boris grandmother . she be the one family member he can trust and her sadness at his leaving be very evident on her face and through her body language . vasili merkuryev and a the patriarch fyodor ivanovich and bring what be perhaps the best performance . a spoken at the end and about father need to choke back hidden tear and merkuryev epitomize those sentiment . he put on a tough exterior and especially crack joke and rid his son hard when he find out about his volunteering just hour before he must leave . but when boris exit to go to the assembly station we see the true pain of the man and seat in sorrow at the table . he love his son dearly and although he may not be able to show it to him and his action throughout the film express it to the audience . aleksey batalov be effective a boris and a happy go lucky young man and and idealist and do what he believe be right and and aleksandr shvorin be good a the villainous mark and stay home due to his talented piano skill and or maybe just to steal his cousin love . that love and play by tatyana samojlova and really draw the audience in to her grief and dejection and and slim glimmer of hope . the true star of the film and she must go through many emotion on a journey where she do lose her way and needing to steer back on course and hoping that she do so soon enough for boris return . besides the realism to the story and as well a be unafraid to use tragedy to get the theme across and i also love the visual style of the film . sergei urusevsky cinematography be amazing and especially when consider the movie be shoot in fullscreen . it be one thing to create stunning composition in a widescreen panorama while it be completely different to do so in a square frame . right from the beginning we get a beautiful static shot of a wind walkway along water and a bridge in the background at the top and a our two lover skip their way up the screen and into the distance . there be multiple instance of the camera be behind barrier yet still allow for the action to be see and create unique spatial depth and interest at all time . sharp angle be utilized and as well a careful block to allow for overhead shot and exaggerated juxtaposition of character in frame together . the real feat and however and be those instance of the long shot . use well towards the end to follow veronika through the mass of return soldier and it be magnificent earlier on a she roam through those say goodbye to their love one while she search for boris and her own farewell need to be say . the planning for this shot must have be extensive because while she weave in and out of people and the camera focus on couple kiss and people yell to one another and and more and all purposely in frame at specific moment while the camera move through . everyone need to hit his mark precisely and it lead to a brilliant piece of cinema . it just one part of an overall masterpiece of tone and style while the crane be fly show how successful placement and mise en scène can be in show the audience what it need in as simple a way a possible . composition and professionalism from the actor and crew can work wonder and add something that huge setpieces and special effect can never do .