Mikhail Kalatozov - Soy Cuba (1964) (HD)

Four vignettes in Batista's Cuba dramatize the need for revolution; long, mobile shots tell almost wordless stories. In Havana, Maria faces shame when a man who fancies her discovers how she earns her living. Pedro, an aging peasant, is summarily told that the land he farms has been sold to United Fruit. A university student faces down a crowd of swaggering U.S. sailors and then watches friends shot by police when they try to distribute a pro-Castro leaflet. The war arrives on the doorstep of peasants Mariano, Amelia, and their four children when Batista's forces bomb the hills. Mariano wants peace, so he seeks out the guerrillas to join the fight.

Mikhail Kalatozov - Jim Shvante (marili svanets) AKA Salt For Svanetia (1930)

Quote:
The Georgian-born filmmaker Michail Kalatozov (19031973) is best remembered for directing some of the most innovative and successful Soviet films of the 1950s and 1960s. This DVD presents digitally restored versions of two of his lesser-known, early works, which were highly controversial in their time but now rank among the finest achievements in Soviet silent cinema. Salt for Svanetia is an austere depiction of peasant life in the inhospitable terrain of the Caucasus Mountains. Nail in the Boot, a biting parable of wartime irresponsibility, chillingly prefigures the later Stalinist purge trials. Günter Buchwald's and Stephen Horne's prize-winning scores and the experimental accompaniment by Masha Khotimshi underline the poetic and expressive visual style of these exceptional masterpieces.

Mikhail Kalatozov - Letyat zhuravli AKA The Crane's are Flying (1957)

Veronica and Boris are walking in the streets of Moscow and they love each other. Veronica is laughing, cause they are happy together this morning. They see some cranes in the sky. When arriving to Veronica's house they talk about a rendezvous at the bank of the river. And the 2nd World War begins in Moscow. Boris works in a factory and he hasn't got time to speak with Veronica. He has to go to the war ...

Mikhail Kalatozov - Zagovor obrechyonnikh aka Conspiracy of the Doomed (1950)

From a biography of Kalatozov: (link)

Quote:
/.../ During the late 1940s Ц early 1950s when not many movies were shot in the country, Kalatozov was granted the State Award (1951) for his film Zagovor obrechyonnikh (Conspiracy of the Doomed, 1950), a political pamphlet after the same-name play by N. Virta, starring the uncomparable Russian singer Aleksandr Vertinsky. /.../

Mikhail Kalatozov - Neotpravlennoye pismo aka The Letter Never Sent (1960) (HD)

Quote:
After months of searching, four devoted geologists unearth diamonds in Bolshaya Zemlya. Subsequently cut off from the outside world - and their food supply - by a raging forest fire, the team fights for their lives while attempting to pass along the location of the priceless cache.

Mikhail Kalatozov - Letyat zhuravli AKA The Cranes Are Flying (1957) (DVD)

The triumphant success of this film started with its winning the first prize at the Cannes festival in 1958, where an excellent acting by Tatiana Samoilova was also recognized. After that the picture was welcomed in numerous world’s movie theatres. This is a story of love that could not be destroyed even by war. Boris is felled by an enemy’s bullet in action. Veronica is devastated: she has lost her lover, her parents, her home. As an act of despair, she attempts to find a new family for herself, but only loses her self-respect. She is finally redeemed by rescuing a little boy from being run down by a car. She finds strength to continue living, refusing to believe that Boris is dead. Veronica would not stop waiting for him. Life for her is love, and its loss is equivalent to death…

Mikhail Kalatozov - Jim Shvante (marili svanets) aka Salt For Svanetia (1930)

by ramencity (Portland, Oregon)

Many visually stunning scenes--it's the superior of Turksib, which is on the same video release. Incidentally, Svanetia is not part of the Ukraine, but is in the northwest of the Georgian Republic, in the Caucasus, not the Carpathian, mountains. This area is still very remote. The Svan language is distantly related to Georgian; there are only a few thousand speakers left.

Mikhail Kalatozov - Vikhri vrazhdebnye AKA The Hostile Whirlwinds (1953)

Description:
About the life and work of F.Dzerzhinsky in 1918-1921.

Mikhail Kalatozov - Valeriy Chkalov (1941)

Description:

The film is about the fate of the famous Soviet aviator Chkalov, who in mid 30’es made with his crew the first nonstop flight from Moscow to the Far East, covering over 9000 kilometers and later made the first nonstop transatlantic flight from Moscow to the USA across the North Pole.
Source : www.lenfilm.ru

Mikhail Kalatozov - Nepobedimye aka The Invincible (1943)

Summary:

The 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

Mikhail Kalatozov - Neotpravlennoye pismo aka The Letter Never Sent (1959)

Description: A year after his The Cranes are Flying won the top prize at the Cannes Film Festival, Kalatozov re-teamed with cinematographer Sergei Urusevksy and leading lady Tatyana Samojlova to shoot this story about four geologists on an expedition to find diamond deposits in Eastern Siberia. As the team confronts the raging elements of nature—including a tremendous forest fire—that nearly wipe them out, the film questions the sacrifice of human lives to further scientific progress. An intriguing example of new Soviet cinema, The Letter’s striking visuals and bold camerawork recall Kalatozov’s poetic documentary Salt for Svanetia (1929), which brought him fame for its visual bravado and powerful Communist propaganda.

Mikhail Kalatozov - Vernie Druz'ya AKA True Friends (1954)

Quote:

Like many Russian films of the mid-1950s, True Friends sings the praises of collectivism. V. Merkuryev stars as Nestratov, who while rising to success as an architect becomes an insufferable boor -- and even worse, an individualist. Two of his old friends, one a surgeon and the other a horse trainer for the state, show Nestratov the folly of his ways. In the end, our hero is more than happy to embrace the edicts of working together for the common good. Saving True Friends from wallowing in its own propagandas are the engaging performances of its cast and the sprightly direction by Mikhail Kalatozov.

Mikhail Kalatozov - Soy Cuba aka I am Cuba [+Extras] (1964)

Synopsis (From IMDB)
Four vignettes in Batista's Cuba dramatize the need for revolution; long, mobile shots tell almost wordless stories. In Havana, Maria faces shame when a man who fancies her discovers how she earns her living. Pedro, an aging peasant, is summarily told that the land he farms has been sold to United Fruit. A university student faces down a crowd of swaggering U.S. sailors and then watches friends shot by police when they try to distribute a pro-Castro leaflet. The war arrives on the doorstep of peasants Mariano, Amelia, and their four children when Batista's forces bomb the hills. Mariano wants peace, so he seeks out the guerrillas to join the fight.