Ivan's Childhood (1962)

Director: Andrei Tarkovsky

I have experienced many works of art that depicted the horrors of war and how horrible it all is, so the subject on its own doesn't really do it for me anymore. If a movie about the horrors of war wants to be memorable, it must try to be unique through something else besides just the subject. With Ivan's Childhood Tarkovsky does this, most effectively with some beautiful dream sequences sporadically placed within this tragic film about an orphaned child helping the Russian army in their fight against the Nazi's. The fantasy/dream/nightmare sequences take us inside the head of Ivan and make his childhood experience all the more tragic when we see what exactly he witnessed, what he is now fighting for, and the desire he has to return to a peaceful life with his family.

Those dream sequences give heft to the important, but a bit tired cinematically, subject of the consequences of war. The rest of the movie feels a bit more conventional compared to those great scenes, but Tarkovsky manages to once in a while fill even the more conventional scenes with beauty. It is apparent that this is not a movie Tarkovsky initiated, as the movie is a bit too blunt and straightforward for his more poetic and ambiguous sensibilities, but you can tell that the dream sequences were very much his idea. He shoots those scenes with passion and subtlety, and the camera moves fluidly, it's all much more in line with the Tarkovsky that we know from his later more personal films. His later films are certainly much more impressive than this one, but this one fits well in his oeuvre and takes it's own place in the list of quality movies about the horrors of war and the important consequences it has on the most innocent in society.

Grade: B+