MovieChat Forums > Letyat zhuravli (1960) Discussion > I missed the most pivotal scene... (spoi...

I missed the most pivotal scene... (spoilers)

posted 15 years ago by PVarjak
6 replies | jump to latest

Right after Mark plays piano for Veronica in the apartment (I gather this was a an expressionistic 'rape' scene from other posts); there are scenes with Boris at the front. Unfortunately, this is when TCM's transmissions were totally pixelated. I had not idea what was going on with Boris or the interspersed wedding scene. Some posts suggest that was an imagined wedding between Veronica and Boris; but from what I could see, it might well have been Mark.

This was MASSIVELY infuriating. I actually DVR'd it so I thought there might be a chance that it was FiOS; but FiOS has never dropped out on me before. I guess now I know it was TCM.

Unfortunately, that was the most pivotal scene in the movie. The scene where Boris is AT war is also totally chopped up. It appears that he saves another soldier (Vladimir from later in the movie?) and falls in a swampy area. But when other soldiers approach him (Germans?) the subtitle says, 'I'm not wounded.' So I can't figure out what was meant to have happened there. Any further info would be appreciated.

If someone could fill me in about the war scenes and the 'rape', I'd appreciate it. Thanks.

Edit: Two other things I had questions about:

1. Was that Vladimir who is in the bus that's turned away from the hospital?

2. At the end, when Veronica is looking for Boris at the train station, there is someone behind her at one point (a soldier with his head bandaged). It looks like the director is deliberately trying to show that they are just missing each other. Was that meant to be Boris?

[–] Shane-56 15 years ago

I'll do my best.

In the "rape scene" Veronica repeatedly spurns Mark's advances after the bombing. at least 3 times he grabs her and she is able to run away. He keeps her from opening the front door and eventually she is drained from the experience and Mark carries her off across the broken glass on the floor presumably to the bedroom (it's very visual so hard to explain) That's the end of that scene.

In the war scene Boris and his friend are marching along through the bogs with their squad when a man new to the front begins playing his harmonica. Boris takes out his picture of Veronica and the musician makes a snide remark about how because Boris and Veronica were not married before he left that she is probably being entertained by one of those who avoided the war (like Mark). Boris reacts by striking the musician. The Colonel comes up and as punishment for the argument assigns Boris and the musician to go on a reconnaissance mission to find their way thru The Germans who are surrounding them. As they make their way thru the muddy bog they are being fired upon. Boris urges the musician to hurry, but he is being slow. Finally a shell falls near them and presumably injures the musician (I say this because you can't tell if he is exhausted or really wounded). Despite their earlier argument Boris refuses to leave the musician behind and carries him thru the very difficult and muddy bog. He finally finds a place he thinks is away from the lines and safe and puts the musician down. Moments later a single bullet is heard and Boris slowly sinks to the ground as the tress and sky begin to swirl above his head which leads into the wedding dream montage.

2 things of note. The musician who comes to tell of Boris death at the end is the one he saved. And Boris gave Veronika's picture to his friend from the plant before he went on the mission. This is who Veronika sees and who gives the stirring speech and the railway yard at the end

[–] PVarjak 15 years ago

Thank you VERY much. That seems to be a really good summary, and consistent with the few images I could see.

I figured that the guy at the end was saved by Boris. I guess HE was the one I saw fall in the few clear segments; because I did see him get picked up (I guess by Boris).

The guy I meant seeming to come close to Veronika in the crowd was no the same person who gave the speech (I'm pretty sure, but not 100%). It seemed very deliberate that they moved close to one another in the crowd; but never quit met. I hope TCM shows it again.

I DO think that the musician (that's Vladimir, right?) was turned away from the hospital earlier in the movie.

Thanks again. It was very helpful.

[–] vanwall 15 years ago

A few points:

To clear up a lot false impressions, the rape is implied by Veronica fainting while Mark carries her and if you watch carefully when Veronica opens her eyes during the act at the end of that scenario, there's a subtle rocking motion to imply sex, and her horrified awakening in mid-rape is obvious. The power of societies' mores were not that much different in Soviet Russia as in most countries back then - the woman must've given in, therefore she must marry the man, something that was implied in the dinner table scene with the family that followed.

Vladimir is wounded, not fatigued, because, yes, he's the one turned away by the hospital. The clever way Kalatazov doesn't show the impact of any of the shrapnel, and later the bullet that kills Boris, is to impersonalize the fact of individual wounds. Vladimir's wounds were wonderfully implied with the shrapnel hitting the anti-tank gun's shield out of visual range. You don't see him fall, ever, but Boris goes back and hauls him on his back. The claustrophobic scene where Vladimir breaks Veronica's heart twice while telling her of Boris's death, is one the best scenes in the film, IMHO, and proof that Kalatazov and Urusevsky didn't always need swooping crane shots and hand-helds, as it was acting in that scene.

Stepan is the one giving the speech at the end of the film. There were a lot of other mustachioed soldiers who resembled him in the crowd, tho.

If you look carefully many of the people in the crowd at the end, were there at the farewell scene at the beginning of the film, now re-united.

[–] mikloise 14 years ago

If you are keen to watch see the bits you missed the entire movie is uploaded here http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=3908864888610975309#

Enjoy, truly a great movie.

[–] PVarjak 14 years ago

Thanks. Clickable link:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=3908864888610975309

[–] 14 years ago

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