Once in a while, a film of pristine and profound beauty comes along, fixating and enchanting a viewer.
Igor and the Cranes’ Journey, directed by Evgeny Ruman, is such a film.
The Toronto Jewish Film Festival’s Chai Tea & A Movie series will screen in on Sunday, Feb. 9 at 5 p.m. (Tea is served at 4 p.m.).
An Israeli, Polish and German production, it’s set in contemporary Russia and Israel and turns on an endearing father/son relationship, a boy’s adaptation to a new land and, as the title suggests, a fledgling crane that undertakes a long and dangerous flight.
As the film opens, Peter (Tomasz Sobczak) and his 11-year-old son, Igor (Itai Shcherback), are observing cranes in northwest Russia. Peter, a renowned orinthologist, is a specialist in cranes, and Igor is his doting companion and helper. Igor rarely sees his father because his parents are divorced, so every moment he can spend with Peter is a precious one.
As they observe the cranes in the marsh, they spot a male chick, and Igor names him Karl. Peter attaches a transmitter on Karl so he can study his movements. Peter tracks the flight of cranes from Russia to Africa via Israel, so Karl has a special role to play in Peter’s scientific studies.
Just when things are looking up, Peter learns that the research funds that support his project have dried up. Igor, an intelligent lad, saves the day when he reminds Peter of a bright idea he has not even bothered to discuss with his boss. Why not track cranes on the Internet and build up an international following? An interesting concept, agrees Peter’s superior.
When Igor returns home, his mother, Tanya (Ola Schur Selektar), drops a bombshell. They are immigrating to Israel. She has landed a job as a choir director. Igor is none too pleased by the prospect of leaving Russia, but the matter is settled. Peter encourages Igor to leave, promising to meet him in Israel one day soon.
In Israel, Igor feels like a fish out of water. His Hebrew is non-existent. His father is far away. There are no cranes to pique his interest. And he doesn’t fit in. Indeed, he is teased at school.
Vered (Cili Arbel), Igor’s classmate and the daughter of the school’s principal, treats him kindly, complimenting him on his drawings of cranes and teaching him rudimentary Hebrew. Back in Russia, Peter continues to track Karl and two other cranes.
Cutting class one day, Igor and Vered travel by bus to the Hula nature preserve in the Galilee, where millions of migrating birds land each year as they fly south. Igor tells a friendly park ranger all about Karl.
Avidly following his father’s reports on the Internet, Igor discovers that Karl has passed the most difficult of endurance tests, having flown across the Black Sea in Turkey. It appears that Karl will reach Israel very soon.
Igor, having learned conversational Hebrew thanks in part to Vered, persuades Eli (Gera Sandler), a TV station photographer who’s dating Tanya, to photograph the migration. By now, Vered likes Igor to pieces.
Working from a lucid screenplay co-written by Dita Guery and Eitan Londner, Ruman, the Russian-born director, transforms what could have been a common-place story into an inspirational one. As the film unfolds, Igor grows up and matures, adjusting to his new homeland.
Shcherback, so alert and attuned to his surroundings, is a marvel to watch. Arbel is an immensely empathetic figure and her emotional range is astonishing. Selektar delivers a fine performance as a woman caught between countries, languages and cultures. Sobczak has a fairly limited role, but he makes the best of it.
Partly animated, and enhanced by shots of graceful birds in motion, Igor and the Cranes’ Journey is deeply touching. Slowly but surely, it creeps up on you, leaving a deceptively powerful and unforgettable impact.