The Cranes are Flying

Veronika (Tatyana Samoylova) and Boris (Aleksey Batalov) come together in Moscow shortly before World War II. Walking along the river, they watch cranes fly overhead, and promise to rendezvous before Boris leaves to fight. Boris misses the meeting and is off to the front lines, while Veronika waits patiently, sending letters faithfully. After her house is bombed, Veronika moves in with Boris' family, into the company of a cousin with his own intentions. The Cranes Are Flying, conveys a powerful antiwar message by shifting away from traditional Soviet heroic propaganda to focus on the shattering psychological and emotional toll war inflicts on ordinary individuals. The film uses the tragic separation of two lovers to illustrate how conflict destroys personal happiness, replacing the "glory" of battle with a "grim" depiction of loss, grief, and the trauma of those left on the home front. 

Language: Russian with English subtitles.