War is war... Andrei Tarkovsky is my favorite Soviet director, and no matter how much I watched his films, I always wanted to see his very first, which he directed at the age of 29. The movie is very strong. It already shows the rudiments of the future master, and already looms his signature handwriting.
Ivan is only 12 years old and is now an orphan. His father was killed at the front, and his mother and sister were shot by the Germans. After that, he's an old guerrilla who can sneak anywhere and do anything. He always carried out dangerous errands at the risk of life, and was very useful to our country. But war is war... It does not spare even the best of us.
This is another film that proves that the war won not only bearded men with a bottle of vodka in one hand and a rifle in the other. The war was also won by such young heroes as Ivan. Tarkovsky, both in this film and in his subsequent works, addresses the theme of the human soul. If in “Andrey Rublev” it was Rublev himself, in “Solaris” Chris, then in this film Ivan himself takes this role. By the way, a very good field for such a topic. The fate crippled by the war, the childhood lost forever, all this is in the eyes of young Ivan. And even the same Ivan at the front, and small clippings showing Ivan when there was no war. There are two completely different people. After this film, it really becomes clear how terrible the war was. And even, despite the simplicity of the storyline, there is so much thought in it, which, often, does not happen in many more twisted pictures. In this film, Tarkovsky perfectly showed that even at first glance, Ivan, who was “wrathful” from the war, has those childhood, boyish feelings, and many episodes prove this. The actor playing the role of Ivan also played very well. Nikolai Burlyaev. He faithfully conveyed the character of a boy who, even in the most difficult situations, remains a brave fighter for justice and for the victory of the Soviet Union.
So the film is definitely a masterpiece. Young Andrei Tarkovsky showed in him all his talent and his best qualities, which he brought almost to perfection in his subsequent works. Original