Overview
Amidst the chaos of war, love stands as both a beacon and a burden.
Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Brisk
- Intensity
- Extreme
- Complexity
- Layered
- Violence
- Moderate
- heartbreaking
- melancholic
- lyrical
- classic cinema night
- historical film study
What critics said
Critics broadly regard the film as a technically accomplished, heartbreaking, and humanist anti-war classic distinguished by its emotional force and visual invention.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
Veronika endures an air raid, displacement, uncertainty, and social pressure while Boris is absent at the front.
The film is known for dynamic tracking shots, heightened compositions, and fluid movement that externalize Veronika's emotional turmoil.
Veronika and Boris are parted by the 1941 invasion, with communication and commitment strained by the ensuing war.
Produced by Mosfilm during the Khrushchev Thaw, the film foregrounds personal grief and moral ambiguity rather than purely heroic wartime pageantry.
Films like The Cranes Are Flying, and why
A Walk in the Sun
shared anti-war perspective, wartime separation, romantic melodrama, and intimate civilian experience
Casablanca
shared black-and-white wartime drama, doomed romance, moral anguish, and civilian suffering
Ballad of a Soldier
shared Soviet war drama, lyrical visual style, grief, and human-scale treatment of battlefield trauma
The Umbrellas of Cherbourg
shared devastating romantic separation, wartime disillusionment, and emotionally expressive visual storytelling
Movie Details
- Director
- Mikhail Kalatozov
- Release Date
- 1957-10-12
- Runtime
- 97 min
- Rating
- 7.9 / 10 (475)
Cast
- Tatyana Samoylova
- Aleksey Batalov
- Vasili Merkuryev
- Aleksandr Shvorin
- Svetlana Kharitonova
- Konstantin Kadochnikov
- Valentin Zubkov
- Antonina Bogdanova
- Boris Kokovkin
- Ekaterina Kupriyanova
Where to watch in United States
- Streaming
- Criterion Channel
- Rent
- Fandango At Home
- Buy
- Fandango At Home
Streaming options come from TMDB and change over time.
Common questions
- What is The Cranes Are Flying about?
- A fiercely lyrical Soviet wartime romance follows a young woman through separation, displacement, and moral anguish as war transforms private devotion into grief.
- What is The Cranes Are Flying like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of The Cranes Are Flying as brisk, its intensity as extreme and its storytelling as layered.
- Is The Cranes Are Flying violent?
- Somewhat. Ember rates the violence in The Cranes Are Flying as moderate.
- What did critics think of The Cranes Are Flying?
- Critics broadly regard the film as a technically accomplished, heartbreaking, and humanist anti-war classic distinguished by its emotional force and visual invention.
- Which films are like The Cranes Are Flying?
- Films with a similar feel include A Walk in the Sun, Casablanca, Ballad of a Soldier, and The Umbrellas of Cherbourg.
- How long is The Cranes Are Flying?
- The Cranes Are Flying runs 97 minutes.
- Where can I watch The Cranes Are Flying?
- In United States, The Cranes Are Flying streams on Criterion Channel.
