Rating: 
Summary: Changed My Life
Review: My parents saw this movie while they were in college, and named me after Alyosha's love interest, Shura. Growing up I didn't really know anything about the character I was named after. I saw the movie when I was around 12 or 13. I was very impressed by the movie and am proud that my name is Shura. It is tough that I grew up in the US, am not Russian and don't know anyone name Shura. Russians I've met tell me Shura is actually a nickname for Alexandra or Alexander and isn't really used that much any more. I'm glad this movie exists though. I don't think it was propaganda though because it doesn't really talk about politics, and I think respect for soldiers and their hardships is (or should be) universal.
Rating:
Summary: If Only....
Review: Sometimes you watch a film and it inhabits you.... it gets under your skin. Ballad of a Soldier is such a film. And sometimes a work of art provides an affirmation of what you've always believed. This too is the case with this remarkable, deeply moving film from Kruschev's Soviet Union.
The camerawork is exceptional, the black and white tonality is exquisite, and even though the tale told could be minimalized by labels such as corny and manipulative and obvious, at heart it's a classic story of love desperately trying to survive in the midst of madness. It's riveting - you can't take your eyes off the screen - and it's compelling, in that during this film (and for days after it) the most important thing in your heart will become the hero's reuniting with his love. Deeply moving... and I don't know if I will ever forget this performance by the shimmering Zhanna Prokhorenko.
The tragedy of this remarkable film is that it could have been used as an instrument to teach the American people they were being sold a lie by their government. That lie, endlessly hammered into our heads in grade school and junior high, was that "The Russians don't value life like we do." We were taught to view the Soviets as grey, unattractive potato-like people in shabby clothing who wanted to conquer Main Street America, though it was never really explained to us why they would ever want to do that, especially after losing over 22 million of their own citizens in the last war... (oh I forgot, they don't value life like we do.) We were taught there was a missile gap...with JFK claiming that the Russians had thousands of missiles aimed at our back yards... which we now know was an enormous and conscious exaggeration (sound familiar?)
If every American had had the chance to see this film in the early Sixties and had mustered up the inner strength to speak truth to power, the contemporary history of the United States and the world just might have been different. You could have shown this film to an audience of farmers and their families in Kansas in 1960, and that audience would have seen themselves on the screen. And they would have wept as they left the theatre.
The Soviet people were not our enemies. Their government definitely at times was our adversary, but the demonization of the Soviet people by our leaders and our media was and remains absolutely unforgivable, a historical sin.
A brilliant, heartwarming and sad film, with a profound lesson not too late for the learning.
Rating:
Summary: Whatever Will Happen...
Review: The bottom line of this underrated masterpiece (well received upon its initial release in the 50s to be later dismissed as "Soviet propaganda" by a western public who often confounded cynism with truth) is that sometimes you've just to do your duty whatever the circumstances, but this doesn't means you'll lose your soul. It's the difference between blind obedience and conscious duty - something that today is often difficult to tell apart. The story is simple. Aliosha, a young Red Army "frontnik" almost by chance saves the life of many of his comrades. As award, he's granted a 4 day leave so he can get to see his mother back home - incidentally, this was the only way a Red Army's soldier could hope to get ANY kind of leave! During the trip he meet a young girl, and the two fall in love. But time is running out, and the war is never too far away. Aliosha will finally get to see his mother, but with little time left to stay with her. The final scene is heartbreaking (and I'm not someone who get really emotional when seeing a movie), even if you aren't aware that, with a mean frontline life expectancy of little more than two weeks, chances that Aliosha will see his mother again are pretty slim. This is a simple, effective demonstration of the cinematic power of a linear and powerful story. Very good cinematography, great perfomances and a solid editing make this a winner even for today's audiences. If you want to know what's like to be in a war where (at least!) twenty millions of your compatriots have been killed, your country ravaged and the very existence of your culture put in danger, watch this movie.
Rating:
Summary: Whatever Will Happen...
Review: The bottom line of this underrated masterpiece (well received upon its initial release in the 50s to be later dismissed as "Soviet propaganda" by a western public who often confounded cynism with truth) is that sometimes you've just to do your duty whatever the circumstances, but this doesn't means you'll lose your soul. It's the difference between blind obedience and conscious duty - something that today is often difficult to tell apart. The story is simple. Aliosha, a young Red Army "frontnik" almost by chance saves the life of many of his comrades. As award, he's granted a 4 day leave so he can get to see his mother back home - incidentally, this was the only way a Red Army's soldier could hope to get ANY kind of leave! During the trip he meet a young girl, and the two fall in love. But time is running out, and the war is never too far away. Aliosha will finally get to see his mother, but with little time left to stay with her. The final scene is heartbreaking (and I'm not someone who get really emotional when seeing a movie), even if you aren't aware that, with a mean frontline life expectancy of little more than two weeks, chances that Aliosha will see his mother again are pretty slim. This is a simple, effective demonstration of the cinematic power of a linear and powerful story. Very good cinematography, great perfomances and a solid editing make this a winner even for today's audiences. If you want to know what's like to be in a war where (at least!) twenty millions of your compatriots have been killed, your country ravaged and the very existence of your culture put in danger, watch this movie.
Rating:
Summary: A must have for any collection, a must see for everyone
Review: The details of the story have been covered well in other reviews, so I'll pass on that aspect. This DVD is flawlessly rendered. Every outlet should apply the same standards to their work as did Criterion in this release. The result is a crisp, detailed, CLEAN, B&W video and soundtrack that looks right at home on the best of the current crop of high end Entertainment centers. The story is neither pacifist (like "All quiet"), or gung-ho die for the motherland in it's application. It focuses more on the human side of the call to arms than any film I have ever viewed. Faced with the knowlege that Hitler was exterminating their fellow countrymen in order to provide "living space" for the future Reich, many millions of Russians answered the call to defend their existence. Many millions died before the war was over. Despite it's soviet origin, this film does a wonderful job of singling out just one individual, following his life through the ordeal of war, and giving us a glimpse of the true cost of the sacrifice made by the masses of young soldiers who have died defending their homelands around the globe. The dialog is outstanding. The subtitles are remarkably good, and in general, the film will make you laugh, cry, and pretty much stay focused on the screen until the you have watched everything offered on the DVD. Get this movie, you won't regret it.
Rating:
Summary: One of the best moovies
Review: This moovie was always one of my most favoutite ones.I grew up in Russia and World War 2 was a part of my country and family history so it touches me very deeply. When I read one of reviews that said it was just Soviet Propaganda I felt sick.This is a moovie about love for your country,about all those young men and women who gave their lives for us to live happily now.This is a moovie about love which has to die because of war,a mother who loses her son,a young Alecha who is so full of life and has so much to offer -all this has to end because of war.But after you watch this moovie you don't have a desperate feeling,you can only give silent thanks to those who made the today possible and vow never to let that happen again.
Rating: 
Summary: The best known Soviet film about WWII
Review: This review id for the Criterion Collection DVD edition of the film.
Ballad of a Soldier, released with the Russian language title of "Ballada o soldate" is one of the best known and most loved films of post war Soviet Russia.
In the film, a young soldier on the front lines fights off two enemy tanks al by himself. As a reward for his heroism, his commander grants him 6 days of leave to visit his mother and repair a leaky room at their home. On his way hom he encounters many people who have hope of victory. He meets a young woman and falls in love with her.
The DVD only has one special feature which is an audio interview (accompanied by a slideshow) of cast & crew fillowing a screening in New York.
There is another edition of the film released on DVD by the Russian Cinema Council (RUSCICO) that has other good special features.
I recommend both versions!
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful movie
Review: This story, taking place in the times of WWII raging in Russia, is a wonderful romantic story of a young soldier awarded short leave to go home. On his eventful trip home he meets different people and falls in love with a young girl. It depicts true characters, true, innocent feelings of two young people falling in love in the war-torn country. I have the right to say this because my knowledge is based not on propaganda wars, but because I know my grandparents and I know what they fought for. A paradox of the soviet times (Stalin times, in this case) is that in order to fight and defeat probably the most inhuman, fiercest enemy in the history of mankind the Russian Soldier had to free his soul of all the ideological buildup. The nation was facing elimination. Stalin, communism were not relevant anymore - you cannot win with this luggage. In those circumstances a soldier could win only if he was fighting for true values. The Russian soldier fought for his country, his home, being devastated and destroyed, for his love, for his dear and beloved ones who were being killed by the Nazis. This war has always been referred to as Great Patriotic, Sacred War among Russian people, not WWII. My grandfathers fought for my grandmothers, for my mother and father, for my land, my country, my childhood, - fought and drove the Nazi animals back into their hole. I am proud of my grandparents who, despite all the horrors they had to live through, found unbelievable strength, courage, and spirit to save kindness and the light of love in their hearts, pass it to my mother and father to give me a happy childhood. I wouldn't have started writing this review if some of the remarks, being rather marginal to offensive statements than simply an ignorant, blatant lie, hadn't made me sick. And if it did not concern my grandparents. One of the results of the Cold-War-time propaganda - some people now deny the very natural human feelings and impulses in people of Russia and declare them a lie, should they seem to be beautiful. "...emotions you're feeling aren't genuine - they're delivered, from Russia, without love" - a rather fascistic remark than just ignorant. Complaints about bad transportation and 'delays with the service' in the war-worn country are merely stupid. "There he meets a girl (Shura), whom, if circumstances were different, he might persue. But this is the Soviet Union, and many dreams could never be realized for that very reason." The iterpretation of the story is amazing. The passage makes me wonder whose propaganda was more successful in rolling minds into a plain board. This dream did not come true because of the war, not because "this is the Soviet Union". If this movie can be considered a propagandistic work at all, then only the anti-war kind of it. This movie is a small tribute of gratitude to and respect for the memory of the generation of my grandparents. It is delivered from Russia. With True Love. Depicting True Feelings of True Characters.
Rating:
Summary: Warm and Sentimental
Review: This warm and sentimental film is romantic, though also accurate portrayal of WW2 Soviet Union. While surely propaganda in its own since, it has enough truth and warmth to make it a classic. The only part I found a little hard to believe was the beginning where our hero manages to knock out two Panzer Mark IVs (or are they Tiger IIs) with an anti-tank rifle! This was not a Russian version of the USA bazooka or German Panzerfaust. This weapon could only knock out lightly armored vehicles, and possibly throw a track on a tank, but knocking out two German medium tanks with this weapon was certainly far-fetched to me! It would have been better if our hero manned a Soviet 76mm anti-tank gun in a moment of crisis and got his two German tanks that way! Failing that this is a lovely film, which shows just how hard life was in the soviet Union at that time, both for the front-line soldier and civilians as well. While propaganda it is, its not the kind to offend, and I'll wager its good honest morality would have been approved even during the Cold War era in the States! A fine classic, worth seeing for its value, and unique Soviet perspective of the Great Patriotic War.
Rating:
Summary: Warm and Sentimental
Review: This warm and sentimental film is romantic, though also accurate portrayal of WW2 Soviet Union. While surely propaganda in its own since, it has enough truth and warmth to make it a classic. The only part I found a little hard to believe was the beginning where our hero manages to knock out two Panzer Mark IVs (or are they Tiger IIs) with an anti-tank rifle! This was not a Russian version of the USA bazooka or German Panzerfaust. This weapon could only knock out lightly armored vehicles, and possibly throw a track on a tank, but knocking out two German medium tanks with this weapon was certainly far-fetched to me! It would have been better if our hero manned a Soviet 76mm anti-tank gun in a moment of crisis and got his two German tanks that way! Failing that this is a lovely film, which shows just how hard life was in the soviet Union at that time, both for the front-line soldier and civilians as well. While propaganda it is, its not the kind to offend, and I'll wager its good honest morality would have been approved even during the Cold War era in the States! A fine classic, worth seeing for its value, and unique Soviet perspective of the Great Patriotic War.
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