
Directing
Mikhail Kalatozov
Born 1903-12-28 · Tiflis, Russian Empire [now Tbilisi, Republic of Georgia]
Mikhail Kalatozov (28 December 1903 – 27 March 1973; born Mikheil Kalatozishvili) was a Soviet film director of Georgian origin who contributed to both Georgian and Russian cinema film director best known for his films The Cranes Are Flying (1957) and Soy Cuba (1964). The former won the Palme d'Or at the 1958 Cannes Film Festival. In 1969, he received the People's Artist of the USSR accolade. Kalatozov studied economics and changed many professions before starting his career as an actor and later — as a cinematographer. He directed several documentaries, including Their Kingdom (1928, with Nutsa Gogoberidze, the first Georgian female director) and Salt for Svanetia (1930). In 1933, Kalatozov enrolled to the Russian State Institute of Performing Arts. Three years later, he oversaw Kartuli Pilmi, then he was suggested a place at the USSR State Committee for Cinematography. In 1939, he moved to Leningrad to work at Lenfilm as a director. During World War II, he made several propaganda films and worked as a cultural attaché at the Soviet embassy in the United States.
Acting credits
No synopsis available yet.
Георгий Данелия. Великий обманщик
2015
5.0Bakhva Pulava, a merchant from Poti fells in love with a poor tailor woman named Esma and marries her. At the same time, enchanted by her beauty, another man named Jeremiah Tsarba decides to kidnap her. When Esma refuses to share bed with him Jeremiah mercilessly kills her and when faced by accusations avoids punishment with the help of Valida, an influential nobleman’s daughter. Bakhva Pulava makes a decision to take justice into to his hands.
Three Lives
1924
4.7Based on the true story of Russian pilot Valeri Chkalov (1904 - 1938), who set several long-distance flight records. Chkalov and co-pilots Baidukov and Belyakov altogether had accomplished several nonstop long-distance flights. In June 1937, Chkalov set the world record, covering 12,000 kilometers in 63 hours of nonstop flight from Moscow to Vancouver, Washington, flying over the North Pole.
Wings of Victory
1941
5.6Schoolteacher Spiridon and his pretty wife Despine are taking a room in a small inn. Tariel Mklavadze, a local nobleman and debauchee falls for a beauty of Despine. He and his friends terrify young couple trying to get Despine.
The Case of the Murder of Tariel Mklavadze
1925
Behind the camera
7.9Veronika and Boris come together in Moscow shortly before World War II. Walking along the river, they watch cranes fly overhead, and promise to rendezvous before Boris leaves to fight. Boris misses the meeting and is off to the front lines, while Veronika waits patiently, sending letters faithfully. After her house is bombed, Veronika moves in with Boris' family, into the company of a cousin with his own intentions.
The Cranes Are Flying
1957
7.9A study in contrasts set in and around Havana that explores Cuba's 1959 revolution: a young woman's fascination with the excess of an American-owned casino leads to her downfall in the eyes of her street vendor boyfriend; a tenant farmer revolts the only way he knows how, attacking the land he works; university students gain first-hand knowledge of political upheaval; and, in the hills outside the city, the members of a poor peasant family are patriotically swept up into the burgeoning revolt.
I Am Cuba
1964
7.2Four geologists are searching for diamonds in the wilderness of Siberia. After a long and tiresome journey they manage to find their luck and put the diamond mine on the map. The map must be delivered back to Moscow. But on the day of their departure a terrible forest fire wreaks havoc, and the geologists get trapped in the woods.
Letter Never Sent
1960
6.1Torn by personal guilt, Italian General Umberto Nobile reminisces about his 1928 failed Arctic expedition aboard the airship Italia.
The Red Tent
1969
5.2In one of the steppe regions of Kazakhstan arrives on Komsomol youth squad. Severe frosts, spring mud flows, exhausting work than their specialty - the development of virgin land does not come easy. But the young are young - they work, enjoy life, fall in love. In the center of the story - the touching romance secretary of the Komsomol organization and tractor driver Anne.
The First Echelon
1955
6.8An ethnographic treasure that documents with visual bravado the harsh conditions of life in the isolated mountain village of Ushkul.
Salt for Svanetia
1930
4.9The autumn of 1941. Leningrad is besieged by the Nazis. A new model of tank is being developed at a large defense plant. Built in the shortest possible time combat vehicles are tested directly on battlefields, fighting with fascists in the outskirts of the city. The first feature film about the heroic everyday life of city defenders was shot directly in assembly shops of plants and in the streets of Leningrad when the city was fighting against the enemy
The Invincible
1943
4.9The autumn of 1941. Leningrad is besieged by the Nazis. A new model of tank is being developed at a large defense plant. Built in the shortest possible time combat vehicles are tested directly on battlefields, fighting with fascists in the outskirts of the city. The first feature film about the heroic everyday life of city defenders was shot directly in assembly shops of plants and in the streets of Leningrad when the city was fighting against the enemy
The Invincible
1943
4.7Based on the true story of Russian pilot Valeri Chkalov (1904 - 1938), who set several long-distance flight records. Chkalov and co-pilots Baidukov and Belyakov altogether had accomplished several nonstop long-distance flights. In June 1937, Chkalov set the world record, covering 12,000 kilometers in 63 hours of nonstop flight from Moscow to Vancouver, Washington, flying over the North Pole.
Wings of Victory
1941
6.6Banned in the Soviet Union for its "negative" content and never released, Kalatozov was forced to retreat from filmmaking for seven years because of this film. The film sets out to illustrate the old adage, "For want of a nail, the battle was lost," showing how the inferior quality of something so trivial as a nail in a soldier's boot leads inexorably to the capture of an armored train. Kalatozov had intended to demonstrate the crucial and universal importance of efficiency in Soviet industry, but the government decided that his fable gave a negative impression of the Red Army's capabilities.
The Nail in the Boot
1931
5.7Sergey's girlfriend desperately wants him to quit dangerous police job. But Sergey doesn't want to abandon his new case which proves to be quite difficult.
The Variegateds Case
1958
7.0The documentary Their Kingdom, co-directed in 1928 by Nutsa Gogoberidze and Mikhail Kalatozishvili (Kalatozov) for Soviet Georgia’s Cinema Trust, was considered lost until 2008, when there appeared a possibility that this important film – Georgia’s first documentary feature and Kalatozov’s directorial debut – had not disappeared irretrievably.
Their Kingdom
1928
5.7A pretty young Azeri woman Giuli and Georgian guy Mitro are very in love. But because of traditions she can not marry him. Young people run away to get happy together, but without success.
Giuli
1927
7.1Alexander, Boris and Vasily are old friends, who now rarely see each other as they're busy with their professional life. They embark on long-planned voyage on a raft down the Volga river, which turns into a series of comical accidents but also strengthens their friendship.
True Friends
1954
5.8Romeo and Juliet a-la Romani style.
Gypsy Blood
1928
Everyday drama from the life of the Svans.
The Blind Woman
1930
NRNo synopsis available yet.
Cafe «Izotop»
1977
5.1In an Eastern European country, a strong political struggle breaks out over the possibility of accepting aid from the Marshall Plan or signing a cooperation treaty with the Soviet Union.
Conspiracy of the Doomed
1950
A variety of Russian stars are presented in a revue that includes many traditional songs and dances
Moscow Music Hall
1946
Film directed by Mikhail Kalatozov.
Opening of the First Turbine of Zahesi
1927
5.5Observing the first years of the formation of Soviet power, about the life and work of Feliks Dzerzhinsky from 1918-1925; in July 1918, as a result of a revolt of the Left Socialist Revolutionaries, German ambassador Mirbach is killed. Feliks Dzerzhinsky alone goes to the headquarters of the Left Socialist Revolutionaries and Anarchists, he manages to persuade ordinary soldiers and sailors, participants in the rebellion, who are now cracking down on their leaders.
Hostile Whirlwinds
1956
Film directed by Mikhail Kalatozov.
Horse Factory
1927
Film directed by Mikhail Kalatozov
Moscow MXAT Theatre in Tbilisi
1929
Film directed by Mikhail Kalatozov
Afghan Khan in Tbilisi
1928