Conclusion

From the representations offered by three classic films of Thaw-era Soviet cinema, there was the formation of clear intent on the part of the state arts council and the Communist party to shape how women were portrayed in representations of the Great Patriotic War. Furthermore, those representations were informed by contemporary values defining the role of women in the late 1950s and early 1960s, rather than the values of period of war itself. What is more difficult to grasp, however, is the influence that these films exerted over their audiences, the everyday citizen of the Soviet Union. While we know that these three films were widely consumed and generally considered very popular by Soviet audiences, how men and women understood and internalized the gendered messages of these films remains unknown.

One voice that emerged from this silence was that of Tatiana Samoilova, the actress who played Veronika in The Cranes Are Flying. Due to the domestic success of the film, there were persistent rumors regarding the production of a sequel. Although it was never realized, Samoilova commented on her vision of Veronika’s fate after the conclusion of the war, saying “she would simply be passed on from one man to the next” (Tatiana Samoilova, “это было мое”). This statement reflects how she viewed the life of the character—as one that existed beyond the context of war contained within the film, and extended into the future of the Soviet Union through the 1950s and 1960s.