The Cranes Are Flying1957
Both picked by Cate Blanchett and Todd Field in the Criterion Closet, both directed by Mikhail Kalatozov, and both starring Tatyana Samoylova
Letter Never Sent
Неотправленное письмо
Soviet Union / Russian / 1959 / 1h 37m
- Criterion Collection
- Spine №601
- Connections
- View Connections
Synopsis
The great Soviet director Mikhail Kalatozov, known for his virtuosic, emotionally gripping films, perhaps never made a more visually astonishing one than LETTER NEVER SENT. This absorbing tale of exploration and survival concerns the four members of a geological expedition, who are stranded in the bleak and unforgiving Siberian wilderness while on a mission to find diamonds. Luxuriating in wide-angle beauty and featuring one daring shot after another (the brilliant cinematography is by Kalatozov’s frequent collaborator Sergei Urusevsky), LETTER NEVER SENT is a fascinating piece of cinematic history and a universal adventure of the highest order.
