Illustrator R.O. Blechman--best known for his wavy-lined, Everyman characters, and his deft mixing of the poignant and the comic--created this PBS Great Performances-aired, Emmy-winning, 1984 animated adaptation of a Russian story set to music by Igor Stravinsky. A funny, haunting tale in which an ordinary Russian man (voiced by director Dusan Makavejev) heads home after three years in battle, only to be diverted by Satan (Max von Sydow), who offers to reveal the future in return for the man's fiddle, the film chronicles a lifelong struggle between the two for the hero's destiny, winding through several chapters of conflict and love. A moving parable, nicely informed by Stravinsky's stirring music and Blechman's poetic artistry, The Soldier's Tale bows on DVD with a fine assortment of extras, including a filmmaker commentary and a half-hour's worth of short works that Blechman did for CBS and various commercial sponsors, most notably the famous Alka-Seltzer ad in which a man argues with his stomach. Highly recommended. (T. Keogh)
The Soldier's Tale
Koch Lorber, 51 min., not rated, DVD: $24.98 Volume 19, Issue 5
The Soldier's Tale
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