BALLAD OF A SOLDIER (Ballada o Soldate) (1959) - ♦♦♦♦♦

Directed by - Grigoriy Chukhray

Written by - Grigoriy Chukhray, Valentin Ezhov

Starring - Vladimir Isashov, Zhanna Prokhorenko, Antonina Maksimova

"Ballad of a Soldier is simply put a great masterpiece of Soviet Cinema. It tells the story of a young man who, whilst fighting in the Second World War on the Russian front, is granted a six day leave to visit his mother. But his mother is a long way away, and along the way he meets many colourful character, gets caught up in odd little adventures and even experience a fleeting yet meaningful romance with a homeless girl. 

This is a film that represents cinematic poetry with great awareness and sensibilities of social realism. Alyosha, the leading character in the film, may just as well represent the endless youthfulness of any young man who fought and even died on the battlefield of any war. This meaningful universal message is carried by an air of timelessness. This is the result of filmmaker Grigoriy Chukrai essentially placing the human factor at the centre of Ballad of a Soldier, which also pays a more general tribute to the hardships that are experienced by people in times of war. 

The effect of the experience is wonderfully enhanced by the afore mentioned poetic style of the film. Despite the story being subtle and relatively down to earth, a fact further proved by the prime goal of the young man to meet his mother for a little while before going back to fight the war, is rendered all the more powerful and made to seem like a majestic feat by the way in which it is brought to the screen with great technical craft. Not only is the cinematography spectacular, but the flow and pacing of the film is lyrical and this is thanks to the excellence of the editing techniques employed, that so carefully and unobtrusively dictate its rhythm.

Drama, Soviet Union