---
title: "The Cranes Are Flying: the reviews"
canonical: "https://film.one/film/the-cranes-are-flying/reviews"
title_page: "https://film.one/film/the-cranes-are-flying"
critics_score: 79
critics_reviews: 7
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# The Cranes Are Flying (1957): what the critics said

Critics' score 79 from 7 reviews: 5 positive, 2 mixed, 0 negative.

## Empire — Jo Berry

Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 8 December 2006. 

Berry considers the film a masterpiece and praises its tender, delicate filmmaking. She notes that its sometimes overt symbolism is easy to forgive amid its cinematic poetry.

[Read the review](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/cranes-flying-review/)

## Slant Magazine — Jake Cole

Rating 4.5/5. 7 June 2020. 

Cole presents the film as a Soviet-era masterpiece, praising its spellbinding visual style and Criterion’s restoration. He singles out the expressive cinematography for how it reflects Veronika’s increasingly distorted experience of wartime life.

[Read the review](https://www.slantmagazine.com/dvd/the-cranes-are-flying-blu-ray-review-mikhail-kalatozov/)

## The AV Club — Scott Tobias

Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 6 May 2002. 

Tobias gives the film a strongly positive verdict, calling it a key postwar work. He singles out Kalatozov’s inventive camera movements and expressive visual storytelling for praise.

[Read the review](https://www.avclub.com/the-cranes-are-flying-dvd-1798197501)

## Radio Times — Ronald Bergan

Rating 4/5. 

Bergan presents the film as an unpretentious, poetic love story about war. He praises its majestic camerawork and Tatyana Samoilova’s sensitive performance.

[Read the review](https://www.radiotimes.com/movie-guide/b-5osdye/the-cranes-are-flying/)

## The Guardian — Philip French

Fi1m's normalised score 75/100 (inferred from the text). 28 January 2007. 

French praises the film as a highly romantic work with superb lyrical photography. He especially singles out Tatyana Samojlova’s heartbreaking performance.

[Read the review](https://www.theguardian.com/theobserver/2007/jan/28/features.review77)

## Time Out — WH

Fi1m's normalised score 66/100 (inferred from the text). 

The page is a review of Kalatozov’s war film, but the critic’s verdict is unavailable. The visible metadata notes its adaptation from Viktor Rozov’s play and its Cannes Palme d’Or win, but offers no specific praise or complaint.

[Read the review](https://www.timeout.com/movies/the-cranes-are-flying)

## The New York Times

Fi1m's normalised score 65/100 (inferred from the text). 22 March 1960. 

The headline identifies a review of the 1957 Soviet film, but the article text is inaccessible. Its verdict and any specific praise or complaint cannot be verified.

[Read the review](https://www.nytimes.com/1960/03/22/archives/screen-exchange-filmsoviet-cranes-are-flying-bows-here.html)

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Our review: https://film.one/film/the-cranes-are-flying.md