| The Lark | |
| Director: | Nikita Kurikhin Leonid Menaker |
| Starring: | Gennadi Yukhtin Valeri Pogoreltsev Valentins Skulme Bruno Oja Ervin Abel |
| Music: | Yakov Vaisburd |
| Cinematography: | Viktor Karasyov Nikolai Zhilin |
| Editing: | Raisa Izakson |
| Studio: | Lenfilm |
| Runtime: | 91 minutes |
| Country: | Soviet Union |
| Language: | Russian |
The Lark (Russian: Жаворонок|Zhavoronok) is a 1965 Soviet World War II film directed by Nikita Kurikhin and Leonid Menaker.[1] It was entered into the 1965 Cannes Film Festival.[2]
It features a story of a T-34 battle tank and its crew who escape from German training ground after being used as a living target practice. The tank becomes the titular lark, roaming through the land, announces incoming end of the Nazi rule, like larks announce end of winter season.
The film is characteristic for its symbolism with scenes featuring destruction of a German monument in a heart of a city the tank enters, or symbolic destruction of the Wehrmacht when the tank accidentally crashes inside a cinema building and drives through the screen during a German propaganda movie display. The T-34 tank is a symbol itself, being portrayed like an unstoppable, almost god-like creature that inserts fear into occupants by destroying symbols of Nazi rule and enthusiasm into the Soviet captives witnessing its march. Even after its crew is killed, the tank continues its march, driving towards light of the sun.