Letter Never Sent

Letter Never Sent (, translit. Neotpravlennoye pismo, sometimes translated as The Unsent Letter or The Unmailed Letter) is a 1960 Soviet adventure drama film directed by Mikhail Kalatozov and starring Tatiana Samoilova. It was entered into the 1960 Cannes Film Festival, but was withdrawn just before the screening on 17 May; according to the Soviet representatives, the film was "unfinished" (as a matter of fact, Kalatozov wanted to re-shoot some sequences before the premiere in USSR). The film was shot in black-and-white with a 4:3 aspect ratio and monaural sound. It was Kalatozov's follow-up to perhaps his most lauded film, The Cranes Are Flying, which also starred Samoilova. Plot A guide, Konstantin Sabin, and three geologists—Tanya, Andrei, and Sergei—are brought by plane to the boreal forest of central Siberia to search for diamonds. During the plane ride, Konstantin begins writing a letter to his wife detailing his feelings about the expedition. Early on in their search, Sergei expresses jealousy toward Andrei, who is the object of Tanya's affection. Tensions rise between the two while bird hunting for food, resulting in Sergei punching Andrei in the face. After failing to find diamonds while panning in rivers, the group begin a protracted job excavating on a mountainside with pickaxes. When they have reached the point of complete exhaustion, Tanya finally spots diamonds in the earth, leading the group to carry on a rapturous celebration. Andrei uses his radio to inform the base camp in Petrov about the discovery, and the group prepare to return to civilization, packing their supplies in their canoe. In the middle of the night, they awaken to find themselves in the midst of a forest fire. Sergei attempts to obtain some of the supplies packed in the canoe but is killed when a burning tree falls on him.