Mikhail Kalatozov Movies
Soviet filmmaker Mikhail Kalatozov made numerous films, but is best remembered for three important dramas. The first Salt of Svanetia(1930) was a seminal work in early Soviet cinema, noted for its beautiful cinematography, and sensitive look at life in a remote Caucasian village. Though greatly appreciated today, authorities originally considered it too antagonistic. The second, The Nail in the Boot (1932) was banned for the same reason. Kalatozov first gained international recognition for the third film the Cranes Are Flying (1957). In 1958, it won the Golden Palm award at Cannes. Born Mikhail Kalatozishvili in Tiflis, Russia, Kalatozov originally studied to be an economist. In 1925 though, he began working as an actor in the Georgian studios. He then began cutting and shooting films. He made his first short documentary, -Their Kingdom in 1928 and two years later made his feature film debut. Salt of Svanetia was his second film. After his third film A Nail in the Boot was banned, Kalatozov was assigned to strictly administrative duties within the film industry until 1939 when, during WW II, he was appointed chief administrator of soviet feature-film production. In this capacity, he briefly worked in Los Angeles as the Soviet cultural representative. Following the war, Kalatozov became the deputy minister of film production and in 1950 resumed his directing career. Unfortunately, but for The Cranes Are Flying much of Kalatozov's output has been mediocre at best. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
The true story of a tragic 1928 arctic expedition provides the basis for this adventure drama that was a joint Italian and Russian co-production. Peter Finch stars as General Umberto Nobile, who is visited in Rome by the ghosts of those whose lives were taken in his ill-fated mission forty years earlier. In flashback, Nobile recalls the attempt to cross the North Pole by flying dirigible, the Italia. When the airship crashes, Nobile and his crew are scattered across the ice, left to struggle against the freezing cold elements and local polar bears, among other hazards. In an effort to save the expedition, the great explorer Roald Amundsen (Sean Connery), the first man to reach the South Pole, is dispatched to rescue Nobile. When Amundsen disappears (never to be heard from again), an icebreaker is launched to bring national hero Nobile home, but at the expense of his crewmates. Although The Red Tent (1971) was considered a costly box office failure, the film did win a Golden Globe for Best English Language Foreign Film. ~ Karl Williams, Rovi
- Starring:
- Sean Connery, Claudia Cardinale, (more)
An unabashed exercise in cinema stylistics, I Am Cuba is pro-Castro/anti-Batista rhetoric dressed up in the finest clothes. The film's four dramatic stories take place in the final days of the Batista regime; the first two illustrate the ills that led to the revolution, the third and fourth the call to arms which cut across social and economic lines. A lovely young woman in a nightclub frequented by crass American businessmen takes a customer to her modest seaside shack for a night of pleasure for pay, only to be found out by her street vendor suitor; a tenant farmer is told that his crop has been sold to United Fruit and in frustration burns his fields; a middle-class student rallies his pals and workers in a street demonstration against the regime; a peasant eking out a living in the mountains quickly converts to the cause when Batista bombers strafe his land in search of rebel fighters. At face value, this is all obvious agitprop, but director Mikhail Kalazatov turned his cinematographer, Sergei Urusevsky, loose, and the result is a procession of dazzling black-and-white images, shot with a camera that is almost always moving and soaring over the sugar fields, swooping in and out of urban buildings, following characters down narrow streets. Unreleasable to American theaters during the Cold War, I Am Cuba, through the auspices of filmmakers Francis Ford Coppola and Martin Scorsese, got a belated U.S. release in 1995 and has proved to be both a time capsule of a fading political movement and a timeless work of cinematic art. ~ Tom Wiener, Rovi
- Starring:
- Sergio Corrieri, Salvador Wood, (more)
- 1960
Three men and a woman comprise a geological exploration team in search of Siberian diamonds. After finding the precious rocks, they are trapped by a raging forest fire. The quartet becomes lost and struggles to survive as winter sets in. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi
- Starring:
- Innokenty Smoktunovsky, Tatiana Samoilova, (more)
- 1959
After months of searching, four devoted geologists unearth diamonds in Bolshaya Zemlya. Subsequently cut off from the outside world - and their food supply - by a raging forest fire, the team fights for their lives while attempting to pass along the location of the priceless cache. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
Based on a play by V. Rusov, the Russian The Cranes are Flying is a love story set during the early years of World War II. With her boyfriend Boris (Alexei Batalov) on the front lines - and no sign of life from him for eons - Veronica (Tatiana Samoilova, Constantin Stanislavsky's grandniece) is raped by Boris's cousin, Fyodor (Vasily Merkuryev), during an air raid, and later accepts his marriage proposal, despite her lack of love for him - hoping that he'll eventually be able to replace her boyfriend. Several subsequent events (both joyous and melancholy) enable the heroine to rebuild her life, as well as restore her own sense of self-value; she is eventually told that Boris has died in action. The Cranes Are Flying won several international awards, and became a staple on the American art-house repertory circuit into the 1970s. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Tatiana Samoilova, Alexei Batalov, (more)
- 1954
Like many Russian films of the mid-1950s, True Friends sings the praises of collectivism. V. Merkuryev stars as Nestratov, who while rising to success as an architect becomes an insufferable boor -- and even worse, an individualist. Two of his old friends, one a surgeon and the other a horse trainer for the state, show Nestratov the folly of his ways. In the end, our hero is more than happy to embrace the edicts of working together for the common good. Saving True Friends from wallowing in its own propagandas are the engaging performances of its cast and the sprightly direction by Mikhail Kalatozov. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Vasily Merkuryev, Boris Chirkov, (more)
- 1941
Wings of Victory was the American release title for Soviet filmmaker Mikhail Kalatozov's Valeri Chkalov. After having been exiled from the Russian film industry for his so-called "negativism" (translation: he refused to adhere faithfully to the Communist party line), Kalatozov proved he'd "reformed" with this unabashed flag-waver. Vladimir Belokurov stars as legendary Soviet flying hero Valeri Chkalov, who garnered worldwide fame and effusive press coverage with his nonstop flight from Moscow to Seattle in 1937. Despite the fact that the outcome of the flight was well known, Kalatozov manages to stir up a great deal of suspense when Chkalov and his crew run out of oxygen. It is implied throughout that the selfless, courageous Valeri Chkalov is representative of all Russian flyers, both past and present. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Vladimir Belokurov, Mikhail Gelovani, (more)
- 1928
This 1930 silent, black and white Soviet documentary explores the rigors of life in a community living high (approximately 2000 meters) in the Caucasus mountains of Georgia, in a valley by the name of Svanetia. One of the most important factors in the lives of the people living there is the complete absence of any salt, so that animals go to great lengths to obtain any. For instance, animals gladly come up to people in order to lick their sweat, and will try to obtain salt from human urine. Living conditions and beliefs in the region were quite primitive, according to the documentary. In one instance, a woman is left to endure labor unassisted, because she blasphemously began her labor during a man's funeral. However, modern values are on the horizon, as a paved road is being built into these mountains. Though this might otherwise seem a fairly straightforward example of early Soviet propaganda, the film is particularly notable for the stunning visual record it offers of a now-vanished way of life. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi
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