In Mikhail Kalatozov’s Letter Never Sent, a tedious triangle love story is masterfully counterbalanced by a survival against the elements saga that manages to turn the second half of the film into a rather riveting movie experience. In much the same way that Jack London’s masterpiece “To Build a Fire” pitted man against the unforgiving elements, so too does Letter Never Sent find our human protagonists up against their deadliest enemy: Mother Nature.
Letter Never Sent (Blu-ray)
Directed by Mikhail Kalatozov
Studio: Criterion
Year: 1959
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1 1080p AVC codec
Running Time: 96 minutes
Rating: NR
Audio: PCM 1.0 Russian
Subtitles: English
Region: A
MSRP: $ 29.95
Release Date: March 20, 2012
Review Date: March 9, 2012
The Film
3.5/5
Four geologists are taking part in the tenth expedition to the Siberian taiga in search of diamond deposits since the region is allegedly similar to the parts of South Africa where diamond mining has been very lucrative. Sabinin (Innokenti Smoktunovsky) is the elder scientist, spending his off time writing a lengthy letter to his wife Vera back home. Guide Sergei (Yevgeni Urbansky) is fighting his feelings for the team’s lone female member Tanya (Tatyana Samoilova) while she and her boy friend Andrei (Vasili Livanov) enjoy their time together even when the entire summer passes without any success. In the midst of autumn, however, Tanya does find a diamond specimen, and the team celebrates not only their discovery but also their ability the leave before the winter snows come. However, the night before they’re to depart, they awaken to a raging fire all around them destroying their provisions and their means of escape. Now, with an inoperative radio and search parties unable to find them in the midst of the overwhelming smoke and their remote, almost impenetrable location, the team is on its own to get to the river so they can hopefully float downstream to civilization.
Thankfully, the script by Grigori Koltunov and Valeri Osipov doesn’t milk the love triangle aspect of the story for much melodrama. There’s little breast beating over thwarted feelings of love (though one wonders if the wounded Sergei set the fire to doom them all or if the inferno was indeed a natural disaster), but the film’s second half provides all the drama one could ask for. Nature rears her forceful hand at every turn as the survivors must fight flames, smoke, thick brush, and later on torrential rain and then with the arrival of winter freezing temperatures, snow, and ice. Against this natural backdrop, director Mikhail Kalatozov uses his camera to paint a series of astonishingly vivid pictures. He loves using silhouettes against stylized or clear backgrounds (sometimes with fire tantalizingly in the foreground), and the flames are used as a metaphor throughout, not only with the burning desire of all to find the diamonds but with the erotic feelings which each person carries with him and later, of course, when the flames become a peril they must fight and which claim at least one life (there’s one memorable sequence where it seems to be raining fire). As the situation becomes increasingly dire, Kalatozov also uses his handheld camera to shoot at odd angles stressing their danger and uncertainty, and he stages a beautiful shot of Sabinin and Tanya in profile that’s simply breathtaking.
All four actors carry off their roles without a hitch. Innokenti Smoktunovsky is the most impressive of the four geologists with a fierce determination and will to live that’s second to none. Yevgeni Urbansky as the lovesick Sergei also earns a great deal of audience sympathy and handles a moment where we expect a potential rape with great skill. Lovebirds Vasili Livanov and Tatyana Samoilova don’t possess perhaps the same strength and charisma as the other two actors, but they certainly hold their own in the film’s dramatic moments.
Video Quality
3.5/5
The transfer has been framed at its theatrical aspect ratio of 1.33:1 and is presented in 1080p using the AVC codec. Taken from a 35mm print, the transfer is only of middling sharpness. Close-ups look nice, but any other kind of shot seems slightly soft and a bit underwhelming. Grayscale is likewise just a bit lackluster. Black levels aren’t especially deep, and shadow detail is notably lacking in a few scenes. Apart from a black scratch during the credits, the image is free from age-related artifacts. The white subtitles are easy to read. The film has been divided into 23 chapters.
Audio Quality
3.5/5
The PCM 1.0 (1.1 Mbps) sound mix doesn’t boast great fidelity. The film was post synched, so there is that kind of flatness to the mix that often distinguishes films of this era. The music by Nikolai Kryukov can sometimes be loud but never to the point of distortion, and sound effects are likewise not particularly resonant but also effective enough for a film of this period. Criterion’s engineers have done an excellent job making sure any age related artifacts like hiss or crackle have been extinguished.
Special Features
1/5
The enclosed 18-page booklet contains complete cast and crew lists, a generous selection of stills (some tinted), and an adulatory essay on the movie and the career of director Mikhail Kalatozov by film professor Dina Iordanova.
The Criterion Blu-rays include a maneuvering tool called “Timeline” which can be pulled up from the menu or by pushing the red button on the remote. It shows you your progress on the disc and the title of the chapter you’re now in. Additionally, two other buttons on the remote can place or remove bookmarks if you decide to stop viewing before reaching the end of the film or want to mark specific places for later reference.
In Conclusion
3/5 (not an average)
Evocative images of man against the elements are the most impressive aspects of Mikhail Kalatozov’s Letter Never Sent. Despite an unconscionable lack of extras for a Criterion disc (it would have been great to know more about the director’s more successful previous film The Cranes Are Flying and his years at the head of the Soviet Union’s Cinematography Institute), the Blu-ray release offers a more than adequate video and audio transfer bringing this little known film to more potential audiences than ever before.
Matt Hough
Charlotte, NC
