Ballad of a Soldier (The Criterion Collection)
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Antonina Maksimova, Nikolai Kryuchkov, Vladimir Ivashov, Yevgeni Urbansky, Zhanna ProkhorenkoBrand: Image Entertainment
DVD: Region Code 0
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Subtitled); Russian (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono
Format: Black & White, DVD, Full Screen, NTSC, Subtitled
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 88 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2002-04-30
Audience Rating: Unrated
Studio: Criterion
Movie Reviews of Ballad of a Soldier (The Criterion Collection)
Movie Review: the agonizing burden of war brilliantly written and acted
Summary: 5 Stars
Ballad of a Soldier is an exceptional work of art; and when other reviewers state that films rarely if ever get better than this they are right. The acting is superb and the cinematography works wonders for this film. The script is well written and the casting was perfectly done. The plot moves along at just the right pace with enough room for solid character development without ever becoming too slow or boring in any way whatsoever. In addition, the choreography was very thoughtfully done.
When the film begins, we quickly meet a front line Russian soldier during World War Two, Alyosha Skvortsov. (Vladimir Ivashov). With scarcely any equipment and no one to help him, Alyosha still disables two enemy tanks on his own; and he is rewarded with a decoration. However, Alyosha prefers a rarely given leave instead of the decoration; and his commanding officer grants him six days off just so long as he returns on time. Alyosha is overjoyed to be able to return to his village, see his mother and repair the leaking roof on their home; and he has every intention of returning promptly to the front.
Alyosha's trip home soon becomes much more eventful than he planned. He runs into a number of people all of whom give us a slice of life portrait at the high cost and futility of war. There's the wounded veteran Vasya (Yevgeni Urbansky) who has lost a leg in the fighting but who is taken back with open arms by his wife (Elza Lezhdey) in a powerful scene; and Alyosha meets and gradually falls in love with the beautiful Shura (Zhanna Prokhorenko) who is also a stowaway on the same train Alyosha takes part of the way to visit his mother. There are other very fine performances by V. Markova as Liza, the wife of a soldier named Pavlov (Gennadi Yukhtin); Vladimir Pokrovsky, the father of that same soldier and Valentina Telegina does a very good job with her cameo as an exhausted elderly woman truck driver trying to just get by and live using her very old truck; she gives Alyosha a lift but it isn't long before Alyosha has to get out and push every time the truck hits thick mud.
Alyosha meets other huge challenges with bravery and heroism; it's practically impossible not to see the hero in him by the time the film is over. The ending is a real tear-jerker; and I rarely if ever shed a tear while watching a movie!
The DVD comes with an audio interview with director/co-writer Grigori Chukhrai as well as the two stars of the film, Vladimir Ivashov and Zhanna Prokhorenko. As you listen to the interview still photos from the film appear on the screen. The movie itself is in Russian and there are English subtitles.
Ballad of a Soldier should be mandatory viewing for any film student; and the glorious black and white footage only adds to the emotional impact of this motion picture. I also recommend this film for film buffs and people interested in World War Two.
Summary of Ballad of a Soldier (The Criterion Collection)
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