Krylya (1966)

Director:

Larisa Shepitko

Writers:

Valentin Ezhov (writer)
Natalya Ryazantseva (writer)

Release Date:

1996 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

A fascinating and human portrayal of a once-famous fighter pilot and loyal Stalinist named Nadezhda Petrovna...

Cast

Maya Bulgakova	...	Nadezhda Petrukhina
Sergei Nikonenko	...	Sergei Bystryakov
Zhanna Bolotova	...	Tanya
Pantelejmon Krymov	...	Pavel Gavrilovich
Leonid Dyachkov	...	Mitya Grachov
Vladimir Gorelov	...	Igor
Yuri Medvedev	...	Boris Grigoryevich
Nikolai Grabbe	...	Kostya Shuvalov
Zhanna Aleksandrova	...	Zinka
Rimma Markova	...	Shura (as Rimma Nikitina-Markova)
Arkadi Trusov	...	Morozov
Olga Gobzeva	...	Journalist
Boris Yurchenko	...	Sinitsin
Evgeni Evstigneev	...	Misha
Natalya Gitserot		(as N. Gitserot)
Mariya Kravchunovskaya		(as M. Kravchunovskaya)
Pyotr Dolzhanov		(as P. Dolzhanov)
Vadim Mikhajlov		(as V. Mikhajlov)
V. Burmistrov
S. Veselov
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
O. Grabak
P. Gurov
Yu. Kryuchkov
K. Panchenko
T. Posnikova
V. Vulf
V. Zalivin

Directed by
Larisa Shepitko

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Valentin Ezhov		writer
Natalya Ryazantseva		writer

Original Music by
Roman Ledenyov

Cinematography by
Igor Slabnevich

Film Editing by
L. Lysenkova

Production Design by
Ivan Plastinkin

Costume Design by
A. Dokuchayeva

Music Department
Veronika Dudarova	....	conductor

Production Companies

• Mosfilm

Distributors

• International Film Circuit (1996) (USA) (also video)
• Seagull Films (2006-2007) (worldwide) (theatrical)
• Criterion Collection, The (2008) (USA) (DVD)
• Eclipse from the Criterion Collection (2008) (USA) (DVD)

Other Companies

• Kinostudiya "Mosfilm"  production unit

Also Known As:

Крылья (Soviet Union: Russian title)
Wings (International: English title)

Runtime:

85 min

Country:

Soviet Union

Language:

Russian

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Company:

Mosfilm

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Fejezetek a film történetéböl: A szovjet film 1953-1970 (#1.12)" (1990)

fascinating and slow paced post-war movie

This Russian film is about the fortunes of former war heroine flyer Nadezhda Petrukhina, who is working as a schoolteacher in the aftermath of the war and becoming increasingly dissatisfied with her lot. Her daughter Tanya (Zhanna Bolotova) has married an older man, Igor, who Petrukhina clearly thinks isn't good enough for her, while the teacher is herself courted by a museum director, Pavel Gavrilovich (Pantelejmon Krymov).

Centring on the former lady flyer and taking the film at a nice slow pace, we follow her through several days and activities such as going to a museum, catching up with old friends at the airfield, meeting Igor's more intellectualised friends, and chewing the fat with a cafe waitress, eventually waltzing with her to the strains of the Great Waltz.

'Wings' is a film of quiet beauty which remains long in the memory after you've seen it - whether it is the school play you remember, with the dancing Russian dolls, or the cleaner mopping the school corridors, or Boris the deputy head painting the walls, or the sight of Petrukhina muching sausage with the workers in the pub, or the final swoop of wings as she takes to the sky once more, or the flashbacks to her co-flyer sweetheart in the war.