Ива́ново де́тство (Ivan’s Childhood). This was my second Tarkovsky–Solaris was amazing. This one is impressive, especially for his first film. It’s told non-linearly with occasional flashbacks, memories, dreams, and voiceovers creeping in. Ivan is a child orphan who, when we meet him, is doing recon/intelligence for the Soviets during World War II. This movie has a similar gritty take on the war that you find in The Cranes Are Flying. It’s less rhapsodic, but the black and white photography is just as ridiculously good. My favorites are the haunting nighttime scenes along the riverbanks and swamps, and the scenes in those Russian birch forests that are just impossible to make look bad. Criterion essay.
Mark Larson 