Ballad of a Soldier - Criterion Collection

Rating:
Summary: Differentially Soviet
Review: Though little time is spent detailing the front line, World War II is present in the forefront of every scene in "Ballada o Soldate." Why, then, are only two deaths witnessed through the course of this film: that of a Russian soldier who gives up his position and that of a beautiful woman killed by Germans? Why, one might also ask, do the characters, even those in most impoverished conditions, remain as a unit brotherly and optimistic?

This story, stripped to its bare-bones plot line, might indicate some very different feelings to someone unfamiliar with "Ballada o Soldate." Private Alyosha Skvortsov, while fighting on the front, has just endured a stroke of luck that both saves his life and destroys two enemy tanks. In reward for his accomplishments, he is given the privilege to take a six-day leave of absence to visit his mother in his hometown. After a long series of detours, he reaches home with only enough time to hug her, say some kind words, and rush back to the front. During this time he has met and fallen in love with a young and equally innocent girl. Then he is killed.

Does this sound like a happy story to you? When I first viewed this film, I anticipated one of a thousand things that would go wrong from the moment Alyosha left on his journey. The longer it took for the hammer to fall, it seemed the harder such a blow must be to such an unrealistic boy - for Alyosha is truly depicted as innocent as a child. This is a punch I was amazed to find was never dealt.

This is the difference that makes "Ballada o Soldate" an important film today. Faced with numerous gruesome depictions of war in story and in film, "War Is Hell" seems to be the popular slogan in the 21st century American mind. This was obviously not the case in the Soviet Union, when this movie was first released. While "Ballada o Soldate" remains fairly realistic in scene depiction, character reactions to such hardships are unfalteringly positive. Even at the end, when the audience - and perhaps the private himself - knows that Alyosha is returning to his death does the mood remain brave and patriotic. Propagandistic, maybe, but "Ballada o Soldate" insists war is not Hell; war is a duty.

Rating:
Summary: Differentially Soviet
Review: Though little time is spent detailing the front line, World War II is present in the forefront of every scene in "Ballada o Soldate." Why, then, are only two deaths witnessed through the course of this film: that of a Russian soldier who gives up his position and that of a beautiful woman killed by Germans? Why, one might also ask, do the characters, even those in most impoverished conditions, remain as a unit brotherly and optimistic?

This story, stripped to its bare-bones plot line, might indicate some very different feelings to someone unfamiliar with "Ballada o Soldate." Private Alyosha Skvortsov, while fighting on the front, has just endured a stroke of luck that both saves his life and destroys two enemy tanks. In reward for his accomplishments, he is given the privilege to take a six-day leave of absence to visit his mother in his hometown. After a long series of detours, he reaches home with only enough time to hug her, say some kind words, and rush back to the front. During this time he has met and fallen in love with a young and equally innocent girl. Then he is killed.

Does this sound like a happy story to you? When I first viewed this film, I anticipated one of a thousand things that would go wrong from the moment Alyosha left on his journey. The longer it took for the hammer to fall, it seemed the harder such a blow must be to such an unrealistic boy - for Alyosha is truly depicted as innocent as a child. This is a punch I was amazed to find was never dealt.

This is the difference that makes "Ballada o Soldate" an important film today. Faced with numerous gruesome depictions of war in story and in film, "War Is Hell" seems to be the popular slogan in the 21st century American mind. This was obviously not the case in the Soviet Union, when this movie was first released. While "Ballada o Soldate" remains fairly realistic in scene depiction, character reactions to such hardships are unfalteringly positive. Even at the end, when the audience - and perhaps the private himself - knows that Alyosha is returning to his death does the mood remain brave and patriotic. Propagandistic, maybe, but "Ballada o Soldate" insists war is not Hell; war is a duty.

Rating:
Summary: Setbacks, tension and just plain human feelings. Wonderful!
Review: When this Russian film was made in 1959, it was the middle of the Cold War. American audiences certainly didn't see it. If we had, it would have softened our impressions of Russians, who were always depicted as cruel monsters whose only desire was to bury America. And yet, WW2 was devastating for them as it was fought on their soil and so many died. "Ballad of a Soldier" is the story of one such soldier.

We first meet 19-year old Alyosha as he is cowering in a foxhole on the front. We can identify with his fear at the German tanks that are advancing. He runs to a machine gun and shoots at the tanks. To his surprise, he hits a tank and destroys it. He keeps shooting and manages to destroy a second tank. All of a sudden he's a hero and his commanding officer wants to give him a medal. "Please, sir" he begs. "Instead of a medal, please give me one day's leave to see my mother." The hard-hearted officer is touched, and gives the young man a six-day pass.

It would be a two-day trip each way even at the best of times. But now it is wartime. And it's a difficult journey. Along the way we meets a one-legged soldier who's reluctant to face life, a lovely young woman who Alyosha begins to love, an unfaithful wife who he shames, and old man who he gives hope. He has to bribe his way into a train. And is traveling on another train when a bridge is destroyed. But he is determined to make it to his village to see his mother, even if it is just to give her one big hug before he has to return to the front. It's a wonderful story, full of setbacks and tension and just plain human feelings.

Filmed it black and white, and a mere 89 minutes long, it contains images of Russia that Americans rarely see. The countryside is devastated, but yet there's a spirit of a hearty people full of grit and determination to survive. It's a sad story too, and bittersweet. By the end of the film I was sobbing out loud. This is a fine film. Highly recommended.

Rating:
Summary: Setbacks, tension and just plain human feelings. Wonderful!
Review: When this Russian film was made in 1959, it was the middle of the Cold War. American audiences certainly didn't see it. If we had, it would have softened our impressions of Russians, who were always depicted as cruel monsters whose only desire was to bury America. And yet, WW2 was devastating for them as it was fought on their soil and so many died. "Ballad of a Soldier" is the story of one such soldier.

We first meet 19-year old Alyosha as he is cowering in a foxhole on the front. We can identify with his fear at the German tanks that are advancing. He runs to a machine gun and shoots at the tanks. To his surprise, he hits a tank and destroys it. He keeps shooting and manages to destroy a second tank. All of a sudden he's a hero and his commanding officer wants to give him a medal. "Please, sir" he begs. "Instead of a medal, please give me one day's leave to see my mother." The hard-hearted officer is touched, and gives the young man a six-day pass.

It would be a two-day trip each way even at the best of times. But now it is wartime. And it's a difficult journey. Along the way we meets a one-legged soldier who's reluctant to face life, a lovely young woman who Alyosha begins to love, an unfaithful wife who he shames, and old man who he gives hope. He has to bribe his way into a train. And is traveling on another train when a bridge is destroyed. But he is determined to make it to his village to see his mother, even if it is just to give her one big hug before he has to return to the front. It's a wonderful story, full of setbacks and tension and just plain human feelings.

Filmed it black and white, and a mere 89 minutes long, it contains images of Russia that Americans rarely see. The countryside is devastated, but yet there's a spirit of a hearty people full of grit and determination to survive. It's a sad story too, and bittersweet. By the end of the film I was sobbing out loud. This is a fine film. Highly recommended.

Rating:
Summary: Subtle Soviet homage to the art of Chekhov?
Review: While on the surface Chukhraj's film unabashedly glorifies as heroic the Soviet system, I couldn't help suspecting that his real intention was to pay homage to Anton Chekhov (he even names a street after him and a town after one of Chekhov's characters). So much in the atmosphere of the story is Chekhovian, from the conversations between Alyosha and Shurra to the boy blowing bubbles from the apartment building landing. Sweet, languid, melancholy and full of the human heart, just like the Master's stories.

Rating:
Summary: Subtle Soviet homage to the art of Chekhov?
Review: While on the surface Chukhraj's film unabashedly glorifies the Soviet system, I couldn't help suspecting that his real intention was to pay homage to Anton Chekhov (he even names a street after the writer and a town after a Chekhov character). So much in the atmosphere of the story is Chekhovian, from the conversations between the main characters Alyosha and Shurra to the boy blowing bubbles from the apartment building landing. Sweet, languid, melancholy...