The Letter That Was Never Sent

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Christopher B While a very sobering film and one that really packs quite a lot of melodrama into it's short running time, Letter Never Sent is a very artistic work with a few things going for it. The cinematography is amazing and really captures nature in both a very serene and dangerous way through long shots and tracking shots of the vast landscape the explorers are within. The POV changes constantly in the film altering between scenic long shots to the varying characters point of views both in their normal interactions as well as being carried or finally succumbing to exhaustion. It really does add a very unique and personal perspective to the filming and the viewpoint of the person watching. It is tributed to explorers everywhere and the Soviet Union in which the characters say numerous times that they are conducting the geological search for the betterment of the movement. Taken as a tale of survival though, which it ends up truly being, the film is wonderfully done and very artistically captured. Rated 4.5/5 Stars •  Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 11/29/22 Full Review dave s In Mikahil Kalatozov's Letter Never Sent, four Russian geologists set off on a mission into the wilds of Siberia in search of diamonds. After a lengthy period of fruitless and superficial mining, they extend their search into the autumn in order to better serve the needs of the Soviet regime, resulting in horror and tragedy. The first thirty minutes of the film feels inconsistent as visually stunning images are interspersed with ponderous and pretentious shots, usually consisting of flames superimposed on montages of the search, needlessly foreshadowing what is to come. The last hour, however, as the characters try to escape their unimaginable circumstances, is nothing short of brilliant and features countless perfectly framed images and elaborate tracking shots. Anyone willing to commit to the first part of the movie will be rewarded with some cinematic genius the remainder of the way. Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 03/30/23 Full Review johnathon w Powerful adventure drama that while originally made as Soviet propaganda, works a a film about endurance and preserving for a greater cause. The cast is solid across the board, playing idealistic explorers and scientists trying to find diamonds for the Soviet Union, only to succumb to the power of nature itself. Behind the camera, director Mikhail Kalatozoz crafts an epic tragedy, never relenting in showing the power of nature along with the stubbornness' of men, who struggle throughout. Its an epic adventure that keeps you to the very end and a classic long after the Soviet Union has since disappeared. Rated 4.5/5 Stars •  Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 03/30/23 Full Review Audience Member Immersively shot and edited, conveying a sense of impressionistic and realist doom. Beautiful. Beyond its time. Rated 4.5/5 Stars •  Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 01/17/23 Full Review andres s Beautifully shot at times, the cinematography is something to really admire. There were shots where I don't even know how he did them. For instance, the scenes where the forest was burning down - pretty dangerous. The movie's plot and story was ok. Overall, pretty good movie. Rated 4.5/5 Stars •  Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 03/30/23 Full Review Audience Member It's a shame, a real shame, that Kalatozov could make a film as conventinal and clichéd as this. His use of handheld is so overused that it's often hard to see what's going on. Rated 3/5 Stars •  Rated 3 out of 5 stars 01/14/23 Full Review Read all reviews

The Letter That Was Never Sent

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