More in Expectation Than Hope

Naum Birman’s Chronicle of a Dive-Bomber (1968) was one of a trio of strikingly unconventional war movies produced at Lenfilm in the late 1960s, along with Vladimir Motyl’s Zhenya, Zhenechka, and the “Katyusha” Rocket (1967), and Viktor Tregubovich’s War Is War (1969). This chapter explores how the highly specific emotional atmosphere of Birman’s film was created during production, transforming a script that editors had thought rather weak into a remarkable study of the boredom and frustration, as well as courage and idealism, of the war effort. As I argue, collaboration was fundamental to the successful development of the film: first, Birman himself substantially rewrote the script (and was later credited as co-author), and later, the designer and composer, as well as the film editor, made extensive contributions (which were gratefully acknowledged by Birman in the studio discussions).