"The Cranes Are Flying"

Paper Summary:

This paper studies the themes of ascent and descent represented in the film "The Cranes Are Flying", directed by Mikhail Kalatozov. The author shows how straight, dramatic slopes of all kinds are seen throughout the film, as the main characters, Veronica and Boris, run past them, creep up them, step on and off them and experience literal and figurative death at their lowest points. The paper argues that these visual cues enable the film to be emotionally compelling. The paper concludes that the angular mise-en-scene provides symbolism to punctuate the film's emotional peaks and valleys.

From the Paper:

"The film opens with Veronica and Boris running in the streets. They run on flat ground, but profiles of tremendous stairways loom behind them. The streets are wet and uninhabited, as if the couple is coasting along in a dream - a fantasy world that exists on a plane directly in front of reality. This scene gives the viewer an idea of the carefree love that the two characters share while allowing only subtle premonitions of things to come. At a later point, when Fyodor enters the kitchen after Veronica has left and begins to make negative comments to Boris regarding the relationship, he does so after ascending a staircase. He invades their plane."

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