IMDb plot summary: During WWII, Soviet orphan Ivan Bondarev strikes up a friendship with three sympathetic Soviet officers while working as a scout behind the German lines.
Directed by Andrei Tarkovsky. Starring Nikolay Burlyaev, Valentine Zubkov, and Evgeniy Zharikov.
Ivan's Childhood is a very early Andrei Tarkovsky movie about a young boy who works as an informant during a war. We follow him and various other people around him as they navigate the conflict. Tarkovsky and I are usually not a very good fit, as I get impatient with his meandering philosophical dialogue and his multi-minute long shots. This film of his is early enough that he hadn't fully grown into his style yet, and as such it doesn't have a lot of the things that turn me off of the other works in his filmography. It's a pretty straightforward story, edited together pretty concisely, and the characters speak about what's actually relevant in the moment instead of ruminating on abstract concepts. I found the first half of it pretty engaging, especially watching the relationship between young Ivan and the soldiers he works with. It does flag a bit for me in the second half, but for anyone who's had a tough time getting into Tarkovsky like I have, this might be a good bridge to get into his other work.
How it entered my Flickchart:
Ivan's Childhood < The Keep
Ivan's Childhood > Rikki-Tikki-Tavi
Ivan's Childhood < Dirty Dancing
Ivan's Childhood < Labor Day
Ivan's Childhood > A Month by the Lake
Ivan's Childhood < So I Married an Axe Murderer
Ivan's Childhood > Wild Hogs
Ivan's Childhood > The Doorway to Hell
Ivan's Childhood < Tombstone
Ivan's Childhood > The Amazing Spider-Man
Ivan's Childhood > Red Cliff
Ivan's Childhood > The Fifth Element
Final spot: #2516 out of 3568, or 29%.
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