Calvin Edward Curtin Sitting down to watch this movie with no idea of what was to come, judging directly from the cover, I was expecting a Soviet war epic full of nationalism and destruction of fascism. The first scene of Alyosha did not disappoint in that aspect, and I was prepared to sit through another generic war flick. But then things changed dramatically when he asked to go home. From then on out it was a play of emotions. From the emotions that the people Alyosha was running into were experiencing, to the hard anxiousness of Alyosha trying to get home and running into seemingly impossible obstacles the entire way. A range of emotions were experienced. The man missing a leg was heartbroken that his wife would have to deal with him for the rest of her life and didn't want her to go through it, only to find that she was overjoyed to see him again regardless of what had happened. Anger and resent was felt from Alyosha as he discovered an unfaithful wife still living in her husband's home. Anger and resent soon switched to hopefulness by the father of the soldier Alyosha met upon leaving the front. But the most powerful presence in the film was the constant fear in the back of your mind that time was quickly running out for Alyosha to see his mother, missing a train here, dealing with a transport soldier there, having to deal with the German attack on the train. All of the anxiety and time crunch came to a head when Alyosha could only hug his mother and speak with briefly just to have to get back onto a truck and go back. Imaging the pain of a mother not seeing her son for months on end, not knowing if he's dead, alive, wounded, or captured just to see him for a few fleeting moments is heartbreaking. What I felt this movie portrayed was the separation of people. War is one thing, but the longing, heartbreak and hope that is held by loved ones behind the lines is so powerful and rarely touched upon by movies. Hands down one of my favorite war movies of all time.

akinrinola-1 Ballad of a soldier is a very interesting movie. Alyosha made me fall in love with this movie. His trustworthiness, energy and loyalty makes a Ballad of a soldier the best Russian movie have ever seen.. It's nice to get a different perspective of war from another country. The Direction was awesome and all the actors and actresses played their parts to perfection. The girl who played Shura is beautiful and reminded me of Cameron Diaz. The part when the soldier finally meets his mom was very emotional and it reminded me of a personal experience i had. ... man, I cried like a baby! Please, please! More movies like this!!!. I can't get enough of this movie and I've even introduced it to some of my friends

kril10 Chukhrai's Ballad of a Soldier is a great example of several important values of Soviet film of the "Thaw" era. Films of this time are known for a movement away from Stalinist ideological monumentalism and towards individual self-expression via the protagonist's struggle (and often failure) to find coherence. A common theme of Thaw films, especially those about World War II like the Ballad or Kalatozov's The Cranes are Flying was the lack of communication between soldiers leaving for the front and the people who they loved who stayed behind. So important was this theme that in these films, the actual war, in the sense of guns and shells, took backstage. Very few combat scenes were shot—the fighting was always implicit, but not central, in the overall plot. Ballad of a Soldier follows many of these ideas. For example, the only real combat scene in the entire film is at the very beginning, when Alyosha takes out two German tanks. For the rest of the film, everybody he meets on his journey to visit his mother inquires about the war, or complains about it, or is among other evidence of war, like destroyed buildings and news flashes of events on the front. In addition, despite bringing peace to certain individuals, and revealing the evil in the actions of others during his journey, Alyosha never truly finds this peace himself. Despite bringing couples back together or chastising an unfaithful woman, he never got to proclaim his feelings for Shura before he left her, and even the visit to his mother itself was unsatisfying. He never got to finish his dealings before he was killed in the war. He never got a chance to communicate.Furthermore, in terms of form, the Ballad is representative of the loosening of the conditions on montage after Stalin. One sees interesting camera views (like the experimental ones of the 1920s) again, like the upside-down camera when the tanks are chasing Alyosha, or the recurring shots of the moving backgrounds when Alyosha and Shura are on the train. Like The Cranes are Flying, this was another very enjoyable "separation" film of the Thaw.

Armand touching, power, subtle, full of force and grace. it is difficult to describe it. because small and ordinary pieces makes a great story about love, war, mother portrait and youth in dark time. each aspect is unique. and great virtue is perfect measure. a film like flower after Stalin death, it is, in same measure, a lesson out of age. about cinema art, about science of Soviet directors to expose the essence but, more that, it is a beautiful lesson about meetings as seeds.all makes easy. but like old ballads, it is a tale about hero and his travel, fights and victories, Alexey Skvortsov may be Ilia Muromets. or another character from legend. his war is pledge for sensitive roots of existence. adventures who makes him better. it is not a manifesto or fresco. can be a letter. or only a kind of Oddysey in which Itaka is more than a place.