Letter Never Sent
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Synopsis
The great Soviet director Mikhail Kalatozov, known for his virtuosic, emotionally gripping films, perhaps never made a more visually astonishing one than Letter Never Sent. This absorbing tale of exploration and survival concerns the four members of a geological expedition, who are stranded in the bleak and unforgiving Siberian wilderness while on a mission to find diamonds. Luxuriating in wide-angle beauty and featuring one daring shot after another (the brilliant cinematography is by Kalatozov’s frequent collaborator Sergei Urusevsky), Letter Never Sent is a fascinating piece of cinematic history and a universal adventure of the highest order.
Picture 8/10
Mikhail Kalatozov’s stunningly filmed Letter Never Sent arrives on Blu-ray from Criterion in its original aspect ratio of 1.33:1 on a dual-layer disc in a new 1080p/24hz transfer.
When it comes down to it the only limitations to the image are the film’s source materials themselves because Criterion’s digital transfer itself looks about perfect, rendering the film beautifully. Film grain, which is never all that heavy, remains natural, finer details pop out when the source allows, gray levels are distinct, and contrast, despite maybe some mild boosting, looks excellent. The source materials still have a fair amount of damage but it’s never all that heavy and is primarily limited to dirt, minor scratches, and a hair in spots. But despite these minor intrusions Criterion still delivers a rather gorgeous presentation.
Audio 5/10
Audio doesn’t hold up as well unfortunately. The lossless Russian linear PCM 1.0 mono track is heavily distorted in its presentation, particularly in the film’s background score, and voices do sound quite edgy and weak. Yet despite its problems, all of which I’m sure can be blamed more on the audio equipment used while making the film, the track is actually clean, doesn’t have any heavy damage, and is easy enough to listen to.
Extras 1/10
Like Criterion’s DVD for Kalatozov’s The Cranes Are Flying there is nothing in the way of disc supplements but this edition does come with a booklet that contains a nice essay written by Dina Iordanova on the film, it’s photography, politics, and its reception.
Closing
It has no supplements but for what could be considered a lower-tier release from the company it presents a stunning digital transfer and at the lower price it’s well worth picking up.
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