Ivan's Childhood

I've been working my way through classic foreign films in the past month or so. I've now treaded a decent amount of ground with Ingmar Bergman and have flirted briefly with Italian neo-realism in The Bicycle Thief. So as I jump around the cinematic world I next decided it was time for Andrei Tarkovsky. I was previously aware of Tarkovsky because one of his films Solaris was remade not long ago by Steven Soderbergh, although I had never seen the original film.

Ivan's Childhood is the story of Ivan (Nikolai Burlyayev). A boy whose family was killed by German soldiers and who joined the Russian army as a scout. He is quite effective because he is a child and can sneak past the enemy lines. When the film opens Ivan has a particularly perilous journey back to the Russian lines. Ivan has a handful of army personnel who know of his scout work and who look out for and worry about him as surrogate parents. They want to send him to school but Ivan having seen horrors in war wants only to be of use against the Germans he hates so much.

The story also introduces a soldier Lt. Galtsev who learns of Ivan and his work and becomes as concerned for the boy as his handlers. The film goes back and forth between moments of stark reality in which Ivan lives and the brighter and surreal recreation of his dreams. As a story its actually quite effective. At times Ivan is so mature and adult and at times the kid in him shines through. A compelling testament to a boy who has lost his childhood to the horrors of war.

Ivan's dreams are so starkly colorful and full of grand images such as one in which the feeling of flight is achieved. The world at war is often overcast and dark with dead trees or burned out houses lining the terrain. Beyond its effective story especially with Ivan's performance, there are so many just beautiful shots.

In fact this is easily one of the most beautiful films I've ever seen. So many images were instantly memorable such as a man straddling a ravine while holding a woman her legs dangling over the chasm as he kisses her. Its incredibly satisfying to watch these old classics and to see and understand how and why the influenced so many directors and did so much for film.