AllMovie

This is a poignant, beautifully photographed drama meant for the tender-hearted, and for people who especially love animals and young children. A first-time effort for Czech director Frantisek Vlacil the story about a boy and a white carrier pigeon may also be slow-going and old-fashioned to many viewers. The homing pigeon was en route to its base on an island when it was injured and sought shelter on a rooftop in Prague. Right under that rooftop is an invalid little boy who sees the bird and is not only moved by its disabling injury, but is determined to do something about it. As the two beings establish a friendship of sorts, the boy goes about the task of caring for the bird -- with touching results that are both realistic and patently melodramatic.