Ivan's Childhood (1962)

Tarkovsky's first feature, the first film I've seen of his, and boy am I impressed! "Ivan's Childhood" tells the story of a 12 year old who tries to help with the war effort after his family are killed by Nazi's. Being headstrong (reminds me of a General in the making), and running away whenever education programs are imposed upon him, in the company of a few soldiers he hunkers down in a stony shelter, which becomes the home base of the film. It is said he works as a spy to retrieve information from behind enemy lines, using his smaller frame to more successfully navigate the rivers and marshes unsighted, though the film shows this only at the beginning and end. We don't really see the enemy in this film - flares often fly through the backgrounds of shots, and explosions and gunshots are heard and seen - but mostly the battlefront takes a backseat, instead giving us a unique personal tale somewhat sheltered from the typical horrors. Not to say this film is without horrors - isolation, death, shattered landscapes and unpleasantness are all inescapable - only that fighting is not the central focus. The question of Ivan's fate is posed early on, and is enough mystery to keep us engaged. As war movies with a heavy focus on battles and tactics are quite common, I particularly appreciated this unique, personal, more impressionistic, perspective. It allows Tarkovsky to delve into psychological aspects, communicated through whimsical dream sequences, providing a welcome contrast to the grim moodiness of war, and reminding us of the more idyllic life a boy his age should be living. He uses the enclosed spaces to full effect with wonderful shadowy lighting, and captures the murky waterscape scenery with the eye of a master painter. This is some of the finest composition and cinematography I have ever seen.There are a few minor deterrents. It likely would have had even more impact had they shown Ivan's life as a spy. Occasionally the shaky POV shots don't work. The soundtrack for much of the film is sparse, which is not an issue - it perfectly suits the stark emptiness, and the occasional use of diegetic music from a phonograph to break the silence only enhances the silence in a more tragic way - but occasionally sparks of non-diegetic music aim for sudden drama in a way that momentarily detaches you.

Tarkovsky said that children understood his films better than adults.After watching Ivan's Childhood, I can agree to some degree with that statement.Ivan's Childhood is not so much about war, but it's about the troubled mind of a child. Everything we learn about Ivan is unfolded in such a natural, innocent and sometimes harsh way. Many aspects of the behavior of a child is shown in Tarkovsky's first film. In one scene we see how the angry Ivan is disobedient to adults, in the next scene Ivan with tears in his eyes.Tarkovsky does a fantastic job portraying dreams (not as good as his later work, but still very immersive). Ivan sees the things that makes him happy in his dreams: his mother, his friends, him playing games, and him doing the unthinkable. While he's awake, he has to suffer. Not physical, but emotional.The director makes such a great balance between the dreams and the reality Ivan has to face. Nikolay Burlyaev has got to be one of the best child actors I have seen in my life. Together, these two managed to make a fantastic piece of art.

"Ivan's Childhood" feels like a propaganda film. Based on the short story "Ivan", from 1957 by Vladimir Bogomolov. It was actually one of the few Soviet Films of the 1960's that looked at the human cost of War, rather than glorify it. Saying that, the determined Ivan and his mannerisms still convince me of this "propaganda" notion, and unfortunately it's kind of impossible not to see how blatant it feels and would be for any other country to tackle similar material. I greatly respect that the film itself actually has a sense of urgency and conflict about it, but of course the highlights would be how clever the atmosphere is depicted in such small things, be it a crashed aeroplane or a vivid message on the bunker wall (Or more famously wooden beams of a destroyed house looking as they've torn into the picture frame).Told in a non linear fashion with a few flashbacks, 12 year old Ivan Bondarev (A stunning performance by the young Nikolai Burlyayev) drifts between memories and reality as he races across War-torn landscapes and murky swamps to report to Russian soldiers. In a subplot many of these young soldiers find themselves in moments of self-gratification and unrequited love, and it is also revealed that Ivan has a burning desire to exact revenge on the German's after many personal loses.Tarkovsky's peculiar way of shooting water and natural surroundings starts here (With thanks to his regular Cinematographer Vadim Yusov), and it's as impressive here as it will be again and again. There is also a great deal of restraint when it comes to music that really helps in showing how empty the forests are around our protagonist. Whereas the original scripts ending drew criticism for a more uplifting scenario, I applaud that the films ending did not draw away from the cold realities of war, or the loss of more innocent times that will definitely stay in your mind for a long, long time to come.Final Verdict: "Ivan's Childhood", has received much praise from master film-makers. Whereas I feel the quality dips a little in the subplot, and lacks more of the deeper themes Tarkovsky is particularly renowned for. It certainly has enough of an impact that ranks as one of the best from this avant-garde director. 8/10.

This film is a story about a 12 year old boy Ivan, who happened to spend his childhood within the world of Great Patriotic War. He wasn't supposed to be a part of such a cruel occurrence as war, but having lost parents, chose to help his companions-in-arms in risky and crucial way. In my opinion, Andrei Tarkovsky has made more an art house film than just a typical soviet military drama. We don't see cruel battles, we don't see divided by war love, we don't see a war itself after all. All we see is the consequences of the war in theirs different appearances. The objective of this movie is common - to show what gore and sorrow the war is holding. But Tarkovsky shows us this gore and sorrow in an interesting, unusual way, through the eyes of little boy, through his mind and dreams also. A black-and-white sharp and high-contrast shot adds definition and dramatic atmosphere to the picture. There are a lot of really frightening and inappropriate for children scenes in the movie shown by Tarkovsky in order to achieve necessary level of horror that war provides. So I think Andrei Tarkovsky made a great and strong film showing all horror and gore of war in a different style. A am sure, you won't see any familiar to this one military drama, it's totally unique.