De brief die nooit verzonden werd ¹⁹⁶⁰

In January 2025, Eye Filmmuseum will bring a series of restored Soviet classics back to the cinema. In addition to The Letter That Never Was Sent, When the Cranes Fly Over will also be shown here.

A scientific expedition to Siberia is the starting point for this visually overwhelming epic in which the fight against a huge forest fire takes center stage. Digital restoration of Mikhail Kalatozov's classic about the forces of nature and the greed of man. Part of the 1960 Palme d'Or competition in Cannes and on view in a brand new digitally restored version.

With the war in Ukraine and Putin's harsh repression, Russia seems to be returning to the dictatorial times of Stalin, now in a contemporary guise. This was different in the late fifties and early sixties, when Nikita Khrushchev gave room for political reforms and the cultural climate also became (relatively) more liberal, a period known as 'the Thaw'.

A new generation of filmmakers – including Andrei Tarkovsky (1932-1986) and Marlene Khushiyev (1925-2019) – arose; they no longer sang the blessings of communism, but focused on the attitudes to life of young Russians, social issues or more artistic reflections. The Georgian-born filmmaker Mikhail Kalatozov (1903-1973) also made use of new freedoms. With When the Cranes Fly Over (1957), The Letter That Was Never Sent and Soy Cuba (1963/1966), he made an international splash.

The Letter That Was Never Sent is about an expedition of four young geologists to the Siberian wilderness, in search of the precious diamond. What seems like an adventure film in the social-realist tradition gradually takes a different turn. The Soviet man proves no match for the unleashed Siberian nature: a huge forest fire forces the foursome to flee for their lives.

Much of the film's appeal can be attributed to veteran cinematographer Sergei Urusevsky's virtuoso use of the (hand) camera. The scenes in which the geologists make their way through the burning taiga are still impressive, seeming to foreshadow the many forest fires that the 21st century world has to contend with.