When a teenage Russian soldier retreating from an enemy Panzer division turns on his pursuers and fires his mortar shells, he destroys two German tanks and earns a medal from his grateful superiors. Eschewing the formal recognition, Pvt. Alyosha Skvortsov (Vladimir Ivashov) persuades them to let him have a pass to go home and visit his mother. Now the real adventure begins, as he bribes his way onto a train, and meets a lovely young woman he quickly falls for and then must part from, before getting to his village for a very brief reunion with the mother to whom he never properly said good-bye. While the extras are spare (an audio interview with director and stars), the disc boasts a near flawless transfer of Grigori Chukhraj's landmark 1960 film--a moving disquisition on the effects of war sans Soviet propaganda. Highly recommended. (T. Rich)
Ballad of a Soldier
Criterion, 85 min., in Russian w/English subtitles, not rated, DVD: $29.95 Volume 17, Issue 4
Ballad of a Soldier
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