IMDb RATING
7.8/10
4.2K
YOUR RATING
Four geologists search for diamonds in the wilderness of Siberia.Four geologists search for diamonds in the wilderness of Siberia.Four geologists search for diamonds in the wilderness of Siberia.
- Awards
- 1 nomination
Innokentiy Smoktunovskiy
- Konstantin Sabinin
- (as I. Smoktunovskiy)
Tatyana Samoylova
- Tanya
- (as T. Samoylova)
Vasiliy Livanov
- Andrey
- (as V. Livanov)
Evgeniy Urbanskiy
- Sergey Stepanovich
- (as Ye. Urbanskiy)
Galina Kozhakina
- Vera
- (as G. Kozhakina)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaIn 1995 the film was restored by and shown in United States upon the financial support from Francis Coppola.
- Quotes
Sergey Stepanovich: Nature carefully guards its secrets, ceding them only to the most tenacious. And brave, if you will. So, we'll keep looking, looking, and looking.
- ConnectionsFeatured in Fejezetek a film történetéböl: A szovjet film 1953-1970 (1990)
Featured review
Beautiful
Stunning cinematography in the Siberian taiga is the highlight here, with scenes like the dramatic/scary forest fire and ice floe accentuated by artistic camera work, including some nifty handheld shots. It's a survival story, one in which a quartet of explorers go out into the rugged wilderness in the hopes of finding diamonds to help the technological advancement of the Soviet state, but find themselves imperiled by the merciless forces of nature. Director Mikhail Kalatozov and cinematographer Sergey Urusevsky made a beautiful film here, one that for the visuals alone made it well worth seeing.
Where the film fell a little short for me was in how forced a couple of its aspects were. The first was the romantic angles, with Tatiana Samoilova and Vasily Livanov playing the two geologists on the mission who are also in love. While that could have added depth to the story and I would watch Samoilova in pretty much anything, the dialogue seemed so inauthentic that it pulled me out of feeling any kind of emotion for the two, or the tension of jealousy from a third man, played by Yevgeni Urbansky. I felt the same way about the titular framing for the story, a letter being composed by the guide (Innokenty Smoktunovsky).
The second aspect that took away from the experience was how heavy-handed the allegory was, with the clear message of perseverance, courage, and sacrifice for the greater good of the Fatherland. This was a story that needed gritty realism in every respect; we get it from the natural elements, but not always with the people, which was unfortunate. Had it been otherwise, this would have been a masterpiece.
Where the film fell a little short for me was in how forced a couple of its aspects were. The first was the romantic angles, with Tatiana Samoilova and Vasily Livanov playing the two geologists on the mission who are also in love. While that could have added depth to the story and I would watch Samoilova in pretty much anything, the dialogue seemed so inauthentic that it pulled me out of feeling any kind of emotion for the two, or the tension of jealousy from a third man, played by Yevgeni Urbansky. I felt the same way about the titular framing for the story, a letter being composed by the guide (Innokenty Smoktunovsky).
The second aspect that took away from the experience was how heavy-handed the allegory was, with the clear message of perseverance, courage, and sacrifice for the greater good of the Fatherland. This was a story that needed gritty realism in every respect; we get it from the natural elements, but not always with the people, which was unfortunate. Had it been otherwise, this would have been a masterpiece.
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- gbill-74877
- Jan 28, 2022
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Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Official site
- Language
- Also known as
- The Unmailed Letter
- Filming locations
- Mosfilm Studios, Moscow, Russia(Studio)
- Production company
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
- Runtime1 hour 36 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.37 : 1
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