Cheap Ballad of a Soldier (Video) (Vladimir Ivashov, Zhanna Prokhorenko) (Grigori Chukhraj) Price

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Customer Reviews of Ballad of a Soldier

Differentially Soviet
Though little time is spent detailing the front line, World War II is present in the forefront of every scene in "Ballada o Soldate." Why, then, are only two deaths witnessed through the course of this film: that of a Russian soldier who gives up his position and that of a beautiful woman killed by Germans? Why, one might also ask, do the characters, even those in most impoverished conditions, remain as a unit brotherly and optimistic?

This story, stripped to its bare-bones plot line, might indicate some very different feelings to someone unfamiliar with "Ballada o Soldate." Private Alyosha Skvortsov, while fighting on the front, has just endured a stroke of luck that both saves his life and destroys two enemy tanks. In reward for his accomplishments, he is given the privilege to take a six-day leave of absence to visit his mother in his hometown. After a long series of detours, he reaches home with only enough time to hug her, say some kind words, and rush back to the front. During this time he has met and fallen in love with a young and equally innocent girl. Then he is killed.

Does this sound like a happy story to you? When I first viewed this film, I anticipated one of a thousand things that would go wrong from the moment Alyosha left on his journey. The longer it took for the hammer to fall, it seemed the harder such a blow must be to such an unrealistic boy - for Alyosha is truly depicted as innocent as a child. This is a punch I was amazed to find was never dealt.

This is the difference that makes "Ballada o Soldate" an important film today. Faced with numerous gruesome depictions of war in story and in film, "War Is Hell" seems to be the popular slogan in the 21st century American mind. This was obviously not the case in the Soviet Union, when this movie was first released. While "Ballada o Soldate" remains fairly realistic in scene depiction, character reactions to such hardships are unfalteringly positive. Even at the end, when the audience - and perhaps the private himself - knows that Alyosha is returning to his death does the mood remain brave and patriotic. Propagandistic, maybe, but "Ballada o Soldate" insists war is not Hell; war is a duty.

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Whatever Will Happen...
The bottom line of this underrated masterpiece (well received upon its initial release in the 50s to be later dismissed as "Soviet propaganda" by a western public who often confounded cynism with truth) is that sometimes you've just to do your duty whatever the circumstances, but this doesn't means you'll lose your soul. It's the difference between blind obedience and conscious duty - something that today is often difficult to tell apart. The story is simple. Aliosha, a young Red Army "frontnik" almost by chance saves the life of many of his comrades. As award, he's granted a 4 day leave so he can get to see his mother back home - incidentally, this was the only way a Red Army's soldier could hope to get ANY kind of leave! During the trip he meet a young girl, and the two fall in love. But time is running out, and the war is never too far away. Aliosha will finally get to see his mother, but with little time left to stay with her. The final scene is heartbreaking (and I'm not someone who get really emotional when seeing a movie), even if you aren't aware that, with a mean frontline life expectancy of little more than two weeks, chances that Aliosha will see his mother again are pretty slim. This is a simple, effective demonstration of the cinematic power of a linear and powerful story. Very good cinematography, great perfomances and a solid editing make this a winner even for today's audiences. If you want to know what's like to be in a war where (at least!) twenty millions of your compatriots have been killed, your country ravaged and the very existence of your culture put in danger, watch this movie.

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Warm and Sentimental
This warm and sentimental film is romantic, though also accurate portrayal of WW2 Soviet Union. While surely propaganda in its own since, it has enough truth and warmth to make it a classic. The only part I found a little hard to believe was the beginning where our hero manages to knock out two Panzer Mark IVs (or are they Tiger IIs) with an anti-tank rifle! This was not a Russian version of the USA bazooka or German Panzerfaust. This weapon could only knock out lightly armored vehicles, and possibly throw a track on a tank, but knocking out two German medium tanks with this weapon was certainly far-fetched to me! It would have been better if our hero manned a Soviet 76mm anti-tank gun in a moment of crisis and got his two German tanks that way!

Failing that this is a lovely film, which shows just how hard life was in the soviet Union at that time, both for the front-line soldier and civilians as well. While propaganda it is, its not the kind to offend, and I'll wager its good honest morality would have been approved even during the Cold War era in the States! A fine classic, worth seeing for its value, and unique Soviet perspective of the Great Patriotic War.