The Letter That Was Never Sent

Cast & Crew

Tatyana Samojlova

Tanya

Innokentiy Smoktunovskiy

Sabinine

Galina Kozhakina

(as G. Kozakhina)

Vasily Livanov

Andrei

Evgeny Urbansky

Sergei

Mikhail Kalatozov

Director

Grigori Koltunov

Writer

Valeri Osipov

Writer

Viktor Rozov

Writer

Nikolai Kryukov

Original Music

Sergey Urusevskiy

Cinematographer

N. Anikina

Film Editing

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Critic Reviews for The Letter That Was Never Sent

Audience Reviews for The Letter That Was Never Sent

• Feb 19, 2014

  As expected from a Kalatozov epic, the cinematography makes your jaw drop until it hits the floor and the camera becomes the omniscient master of the characters' fte. The wide ñlens, sometimes wide in scope, sometimes introspective and minimalist, captures the viewer into a truly convincing pioneer adventure that slowly escalates tension and becomes a tale of survival. In the name of technical revolution, Kalatozov was always a name that resonated in the international celluloid cannon. The tracking shots and the powerful performances were perfect compliments for the visual style, and took the power of the social commentary or the dramatic stories to unimagined levels. Unfortunately, in the particular case of <i>Neotpravlennoye pismo</i>, his 1959 adventure, the story only functions as an excuse to expose technical marvel. The film feels like "a Hollywood adventure shot by Mikhail Kalatozov", a thought that was formed in my mind halfway through. With the visual style as the only trademark to identify the movie, there is no metaphor, allegory, or any valid reason to actually care about the outcome of the four characters, or to even feel involved with the journey's original intention: to retrieve diamonds from Siberian landscapes. In this sense, characters have some kind of ambitions, but seem unclear to the viewer, leaving us with empty characters that, ironically, showcase an array of emotions through extraordinary performances. Moreover, unlike more meaningful deliveries like <i>The Treasure of Sierra Madre</i> (1948), which worked perfectly as a metaphor on greed and the uselessness of trusting others especially when material means are involved, <i>Letter Never Sent</i> masquerades character development with technical qualities, which is a BIG red alert in my book. There is nothing relevant in the background that functions as a motor to propel believability. Nevertheless, I cannot entirely complain against the film, given the breathtaking contributions it does from a technical point of view, all in the name of cinema development. The image juxtapositions are spectacular, performances are strong (as already mentioned), and the landscapes are beautiful enough to be devoured pressing the pause button and making black-and-white postcards. Less reflexive yet more powerful and influential than <i>The Grey</i> (2011), this is a standard adventure movie with lots of surprises to behold, including Mother Nature's stampede against four naive, little humans! 86/100 P.S. The Russians must have some fixation for unsent letters to loved ones.
  

  Super Reviewer
• Dec 10, 2010

  "The Letter That Was Never Sent" is an awesomely shot but politically troubling tale of three geologists and their guide who are searching for diamonds in the pristine wilderness of Siberia.(Two of whom, Andrei(Vasili Livanov) and Tanya(Tatyana Samojlova,) are in love.) In summer, they have no luck, so they decide to stay until fall when curiosity turns into obsession. In America, the above plot could well have been about greed. In the Soviet Union, all four characters are devoted to serving the State(The movie is dedicated to all such explorers.) which is noble, I guess, but personal safety should always be a consideration. And a bigger factor than nationality should be the earth and the care it requires. I say that knowing the environmental movement does not happen until at least ten years after this movie was made, but some thought should have been given to the natural beauty that could be ruined by any diamond mining. (Originally reviewed in the blog section on January 28, 2008.)
  

  walter m Super Reviewer
• Oct 04, 2009

  Stark, raw and a little artsy. Fantastic performances all-around.
  

  Super Reviewer