Минкультуры России
Russian Ministry of Culture

Rainbow is a Soviet picture that gave birth to a whole direction in the world post-war cinema. And this phenomenon was called 'Italian neorealism.' Federico Fellini, Roberto Rossellini, Luchino Visconti worshipped Mark Donskoy. They declared him their forerunner. In 1961, a large delegation of our filmmakers came to Italy, all the Italian masters for the last time gathered together at the airport to welcome the director Mark Donskoy, said Nikolai Malakov, Director General of the Russian State Film Fund.
The film Rainbow was based on the story of the Polish writer Wanda Wasilevskaya, written by her under the impression of an unusual natural phenomenon. In the winter of 1941-1942, a rainbow could be observed in German-occupied Ukraine. The story of a small village, where tragic events unfold under the rainbow, received the Stalin Prize. And Mark Donskoy, already known for his trilogy about Maxim Gorky, was commissioned to film the work. It is known that the director did not like the story. And so, at his own risk, he decided to rewrite it, filling it with allusions from the New Testament.
After watching, Joseph Stalin ordered a copy of the tape to be sent to the White House to President Franklin D. Roosevelt. He understood the message without translation: Stalin hinted that it was time to open the Second Front.
Director Mark Donskoy received the Stalin Prize for the film. Rainbow was awarded the Top Prize by the U.S. Film Critics Association, the Daily News Award for Best Foreign Film at the U.S. Box office in 1944, and the National Film Review Board of the United States.

יד ושם
Yad Vashem, Research Projects

According to some accounts, Rainbow produced such a strong impression on viewers there that some Americans reacted by volunteering to fight in World War II.
In 1944, the film received the highest award of the American Film Critics Association.
Mark Donskoy's son Alexander recollected that, prior to its public screening, U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt sent Mark the following telegram:
"On Sunday, we in the White House saw Rainbow. I invited Ambassador Charles Bohlen to translate, but we understood the film even without translation. It will be shown to the American people in its rightful greatness. Yours, Franklin Delano Roosevelt."
Remarkably, the Soviet authorities, who were very averse to their citizens having  "foreign connections," forgave  Donskoy for the telegram received from America – just as they forgave him for having many American relatives.

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La vie Soviétique, 15.11.1944

Le président Roosevelt estima, dans une lettre écrite à Moscou que “ce film devait être montré au peuple américain”
…Parmi les voix qui accueillirent avec sympathie L’Arc-en-ciel, il en est une autre qui se fit entendre alors pour déclarer que l’Armée Rouge “avait sauvé la civilisation”
… Cette voix c’était celle du général Mac Arthur … Et cette voix s’élève aujourd’hui pour interdire que L’Arc-en-ciel soit projeté au Japon.