Letter Never Sent (1960)

 Mikhail Kalatozov's "Letter Never Sent"


Although "Letter Never Sent" doesn't reach the heights of Mikhail Kalatozov's previous film "The Cranes Are Flying," I still found it to be a completely creative venture that was well worth experiencing. The film follows a group of geologists travelling to Siberia in search of diamonds. After an unfortunate tragedy, they are forced into a state of survival, in which they question the very purpose of their existence. Originally intended for the 1960 Cannes Film Festival, the film was pulled at the last minute so Kalatozov could do some reshoots before the film's USSR premiere. 

The main concept and thematic idea for the film really struck me as interesting. In a quest for treasure, a group of Russians must reconcile with their purpose and the difficulty of life through the sheer survival of the Siberian tundra. Every time they reach a point of hope, that hope is stripped away by the next horrible event. At a certain point, the film becomes a brutal reflection of life's hopelessness and the constant and consistent turmoil humans are forced to endeavor. However, the ending of the real turns that entire experience into more of a propaganda piece. The ending rescue of the last surviving member, along with the victorious music that swells, iterates the 'sacrifices made for Mother Russia' mentality, as the final victory is not necessarily for this man's life. Rather, it's for the securing of the diamond map he possesses. To me, this undermines the rest of the film a bit. 

However, Kalatozov's direction is impeccable. It doesn't quite reach the experimental heights of "The Cranes Are Flying" for me, but his use of handheld camera throughout combined with his intense close-ups makes for a very intimate experience. You feel as though your right there in the environment with the characters and their innermost anxieties and emotion are on full display. 

To me, "Letter Never Sent" is a worthwhile watch and a great piece of visual art from Russian cinema. I feel as though the theme gets off track, but still manages to maintain its sense of intrigue. 




Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

La Dolce Vita (1960)

Image
  Federico Fellini's "La Dolce Vita" The famed Italian poet and director Pier Paolo Pasolini once said that Federico Fellini's 1960 masterpiece " La Dolce Vita " was too important to be discussed in the usual way one discusses a film. I absolutely agree. " La Dolce Vita " is not only a monolith in cinematic history - it set a new precedent for how films could be constructed. Its DNA lies in the very components of modern cinematic convention. The themes and narrative beats remain as relevant today as they were in 1960, lending the film a remarkable sense of timelessness. To call " La Dolce Vita " a masterpiece almost feels like an understatement.  The film departs from traditional narrative structure, unfolding instead through a series of interconnected episodes. Marcello Mastroianni stars as Marcello Rubini, a tabloid journalist who aspires to write literature. Navigating the glamorous yet hollow world of Rome's café society, he spend...
Read more

The Silence (1963)

Image
  Ingmar Bergman's "The Silence" There's something very bemusing about Ingmar Bergman's 1963 film " The Silence ." Based on the title, along with the notion that it is the final installment in a trilogy of films centered around 'the absence of God,' I went in believing that it would be emotionally devastated. What I received instead was confusion. Typically, this is a turn off for people. Not I. Confusion, as long as it doesn't signify a convolution in the plot, allows me to enjoy the film on an emotionally deeper level. Despite not completely understanding " The Silence ," I was enthralled by it.  Because the film was released in a post-" Hiroshima Mon Amour ," post-" L'Avventura " world, Bergman gets to craft something with a bit of modernity. By this, I mean the 'plot' is a bit more like the anti-plots found in an Antonioni film.  Two sisters, one with a 10-year-old son, arrive at a hotel in a fict...
Read more

Quai des Orfevres (1947)

Image
  Henri-Georges Clouzot's "Quai des Orfevres" 1947's " Quai des Orfevres " was Henri-Georges Clouzot's first directorial effort after his controversial 1943 film " Le Corbeau ." Clouzot had been banned from filmmaking by the French government for his collaboration with a German film studio financing " Le Corbeau ." However, many didn't quite make the thematic connections with " Le Corbeau "'s anti-Nazi sentiment and felt that the film was critiquing France itself. One Clouzot's ban was lifted, he decided to adapt Stanislas-Andre Steeman's 1942 novel " L'egitime defense ."  Clouzot's film focuses on a married couple, Maurice Martineau and his theater performing wife, Jenny Lamour. After Jenny becomes acquainted with a sleazy businessman, Brignon, who promises her a film deal, the jealous Maurice goes to Brignon's home to kill him only to find him already dead. A police procedure initiated...
Read more