Grand Prize winner at Cannes, "The Cranes are Flying is one of the major post-Stalinist Soviet features. A work of grace and intelligence, its story is refreshingly free of propaganda. It is romantic, lyrical, a tale of war and lost love, of individuals who suffer because of the follies of their leaders. The heroine is a young Russian girl, Veronica, whose sweetheart, Boris, volunteers to fight for his country at the outbreak of World War ll....The Cranes are Flying is universal in its antiwar sentiment (yet it) remains unique among Soviet films of its time for its focus on individual experience and feelings instead of nationalistic sentiment....Urusevsky's camera is restless, moving along with the characters and examining their actions, while establishing an intimacy with the viewer. At the film's center is Tatiana Samoilova's exciting performance; she makes Veronica a truly tragic heroine."-Rob Edelman, Int'l Dictionary of Films & Filmmakers