Andrei Tarkovsky's film "Ivan's Childhood"
September 8, 1962
The first Soviet film to win the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival was Andrei Tarkovsky's Ivan's Childhood.
Isn't this the very last war on earth? (quote from the film)
The film is based on a story by writer Vladimir Bogomolov about a 12-year-old boy whose mother and sister were executed by the Nazis. Left an orphan, he becomes a scout behind enemy lines and dies in Gestapo custody.
The decision was made to film the story just a year after its publication, and the filming was entrusted to a Mosfilm director. To Eduard AbalovHowever, the footage he captured was deemed "unsatisfactory." The simplicity with which adults sent a child to certain death on a reconnaissance mission seemed inhumane.
They needed to quickly find a director who could reshoot everything within the tight deadline and budget. So, the 29-year-old came to the studio. Andrei Tarkovsky, who had just graduated from VGIK. This was his first feature film. He shot it in five months, saving 24 rubles—the equivalent of 300 average salaries, or five Volga cars.
The film caused a sensation in Venice. The actress who starred in it Valentina Malyavina recalls the premiere this way:
Not a single person left the auditorium. At other premieres, people walked back and forth.
After the film ended, there was a pause. And suddenly—a storm of applause! The ladies and gentlemen of this extraordinary audience turned to us, loudly shouted "Bravo!" and clapped their hands!
Almost 17 million people saw "Ivan's Childhood" in Soviet cinemas. It stood out from other war films: it focused on the shattered lives of people and the hardships of war.
Our film is directed against war, which disrupts the natural process of life and kills not only physically but also spiritually. This is a film about a childhood that was shot down, in which our entire future is embedded. (Andrei Tarkovsky in an interview with an Italian television channel)
Tarkovsky later criticized his film for being overly pretentious. However, echoes of his directorial techniques from Ivan's Childhood can be found in modern cinema—in Dead Man, The Revenant, and True Detective.