Mikhail Kalatozov has really been killing it for the past few weeks or so with me. With The Cranes Are Flying and now this film, I'm glad I got to watch a couple of his films for this thread. While I like The Cranes Are Flying a bit more (it sat well with me upon reflection), I also enjoyed this film quite a lot.
This is the kind of film where, instead of analyzing aspects and scenes which I liked, I prefer to say what I felt while watching it. This is in part because I was left in a state of amazement multiple times as I watched it given all the daring shots and set pieces Kalatozov put together. From actually lighting a forest on fire on multiple occasions, to navigating through all kinds of rough terrains, to floating down a fairly rapid, icy river on an unstable wooden raft, I imagine that the act of making this film was just as exciting as the film itself. I also loved the occasional dream-like sequences, such as Tanya and Andrei running to the group after they discovered the diamond mine, Konstantin and Tanya stuck in a thunderstorm, or Konstantin's hallucinations as he floated down a river. They gave the film an extra layer of style which I quite enjoyed. The film also packs quite a bit of suspense and dread into its fairly short runtime. Most of the character deaths were telegraphed ahead of time and were predictable, I suppose, but I wasn't bothered by that as this only made them more dreadful. I also loved the ending. I was convinced the film would have a tragic ending, but I was relieved that at least one of them made it out alive in the end.
My only issue with the film is that Kalatozov made some rather questionable narrative choices. The narrative starts out well by introducing and setting up the stage for a couple character dynamics in the first half hour, like Konstantin's romantic feelings for Tanya (which are complicated since she's already in a relationship with Andrei, another man on their expedition), or Konstantin's rather aggressive personality. Unfortunately though, these sub-plots were pretty much scrapped once the forest fire started and, save for a bit of subtext here and there, weren't explored again. Of course, I still found the final hour of the film compelling for the reasons listed above. I just found it unnecessary for the first half hour to establish these character conflicts given the way they culminated.
Regardless of my issues with the narrative though, I still found the film really enjoyable and, even though it gets off to a rough start, the final hour or so is wholly satisfying on a number of levels.
This is the kind of film where, instead of analyzing aspects and scenes which I liked, I prefer to say what I felt while watching it. This is in part because I was left in a state of amazement multiple times as I watched it given all the daring shots and set pieces Kalatozov put together. From actually lighting a forest on fire on multiple occasions, to navigating through all kinds of rough terrains, to floating down a fairly rapid, icy river on an unstable wooden raft, I imagine that the act of making this film was just as exciting as the film itself. I also loved the occasional dream-like sequences, such as Tanya and Andrei running to the group after they discovered the diamond mine, Konstantin and Tanya stuck in a thunderstorm, or Konstantin's hallucinations as he floated down a river. They gave the film an extra layer of style which I quite enjoyed. The film also packs quite a bit of suspense and dread into its fairly short runtime. Most of the character deaths were telegraphed ahead of time and were predictable, I suppose, but I wasn't bothered by that as this only made them more dreadful. I also loved the ending. I was convinced the film would have a tragic ending, but I was relieved that at least one of them made it out alive in the end.
My only issue with the film is that Kalatozov made some rather questionable narrative choices. The narrative starts out well by introducing and setting up the stage for a couple character dynamics in the first half hour, like Konstantin's romantic feelings for Tanya (which are complicated since she's already in a relationship with Andrei, another man on their expedition), or Konstantin's rather aggressive personality. Unfortunately though, these sub-plots were pretty much scrapped once the forest fire started and, save for a bit of subtext here and there, weren't explored again. Of course, I still found the final hour of the film compelling for the reasons listed above. I just found it unnecessary for the first half hour to establish these character conflicts given the way they culminated.
Regardless of my issues with the narrative though, I still found the film really enjoyable and, even though it gets off to a rough start, the final hour or so is wholly satisfying on a number of levels.