My Name is Ivan
Encyclopedia
Ivan's Childhood sometimes released as My Name Is Ivan in the US, is a 1962 Soviet film directed by Andrei Tarkovsky
. The film was originally directed by Edward Gaikovich Abalyan. It is based on the 1957 short story Ivan
by Vladimir Bogomolov
, with the screenplay written by Mikhail Papava and an uncredited Andrei Tarkovsky
. The film features child actor Nikolai Burlyayev
, Valentin Zubkov
, Yevgeni Zharikov, Stepan Krylov, Nikolai Grinko
and Tarkovsky's wife Irma Raush
.
The film tells the story of orphan boy Ivan and his experiences during World War II
. Ivan's Childhood was one of several Soviet films of the late 1950s, such as The Cranes Are Flying
and Ballad of a Soldier
, that looked at the human cost of war and did not glorify the war experience as did films produced before the Khrushchev Thaw
.
Ivan's Childhood was Tarkovsky's first feature film. It won him critical acclaim and made him internationally known. It won the Golden Lion
at the Venice Film Festival
in 1962 and the Golden Gate Award at the San Francisco International Film Festival
in 1962. The film was also selected as the Soviet entry for the Best Foreign Language Film
at the 36th Academy Awards
, but was not accepted as a nominee. Famous filmmakers such as Ingmar Bergman
, Sergei Parajanov and Krzysztof Kieślowski
praised the film and cited it as an influence on their work.
during World War II
, when the Soviet army
was fighting the invading German Wehrmacht
. The film features a non-linear plot with frequent flashbacks.
After a brief sequence that turns out to be a dream, Ivan Bondarev (Nikolai Burlyayev
), a 12-year-old Russian boy who is the focus of the story, wakes up and crosses a war-torn landscape to a swamp from which he makes his way across a river. On the other side, he is seized by Russian soldiers and brought to the young Lieutenant Galtsev (Evgeny Zharikov), who interrogates him but is rebuffed by the boy, who insists that he call "Number 51 at Headquarters" and report his presence. Insulted by the boy's insolent attitude, he is reluctant, but when he eventually makes the call, he is told by Lieutenant-Colonel Gryaznov (Nikolai Grinko
) to give the boy pencil and paper to make his report, which will be given the highest priority, and to treat him well. Through a series of dream sequence
s and conversations between different characters it is revealed that Ivan’s parents and his sister have been killed by German soldiers. He however got away and joined a group of partisans. Sometime later the group was trapped in a forest surrounded by German troops. To keep Ivan out of their hands they put him on a plane. After the escape he was sent to a boarding school, but he ran away and joined an army unit under the command of Gryaznov.
In the army unit Ivan insists on fighting on the front line. Taking advantage of his small size he is able to get reconnaissance jobs for which grownups would be unsuitable. Ultimately Gryaznov and the other soldiers want to send him to a military school. They give up their idea as Ivan resists being sent away from the front line, up to the point where he tries to run away from the army unit and join the partisans. The film also reveals that the reasons for Ivan’s determination to fight are his desire to avenge the death of his family and others, such as those killed at the Maly Trostenets extermination camp
(which he mentions that he has seen).
The film also depicts the lives of the soldiers that Ivan meets, and a subplot involves Captain Kholin (Valentin Zubkov
) and his aggressive advances towards the army nurse Masha (Valentina Malyavina). Much of the film is set in an army dugout where the officers await orders, planning assaults and talking apparent trivia while Ivan impatiently and nervously awaits his next reconnaissance mission.
Towards the end of the film, Kholin and Galtsev ferry Ivan across the Dnepr so that he can attempt a dangerous reconnaissance over the front line. He disappears through the swampy forest and the rest of the group returns to the other shore after cutting down the bodies of two scouts hanged by the Germans. The final scenes of the film then switch to Berlin
under Soviet occupation after the fall of the Third Reich. One of Ivan's former officer friends finds a Nazi prison where a document shows that Ivan was caught and executed by the Germans. As the officer reaches the execution room, we see a final flashback of Ivan's childhood: Ivan runs across a beach after a little girl in beautiful sunlight. The film's final image is that of a dead tree on the beach.
. The film is based on the 1957 short story Ivan by Vladimir Bogomolov
, which was translated into more than twenty languages. It drew the attention of the screenwriter Mikhail Papava, who changed the story line and made Ivan more of a hero. Papava called his screenplay Second Life . In this screenplay Ivan is not executed, but sent to the concentration camp Majdanek
, from where he is freed by the advancing Soviet army. The final scene of this screenplay shows Ivan meeting one of the officers of the army unit in a train compartment. Bogomolov, who is not satisfied with this ending, intervenes and the screenplay is changed to the original version of Bogomolov.
Mosfilm
gave the screenplay to the young film director Eduard Abalov. Shooting was aborted and the film project was terminated in December 1960, since the first version of the film drew heavy criticism from the arts council, and the quality was deemed unsatisfactory and unusable. In June 1961 the film project was given to Tarkovsky, who had applied for it after being told about Ivan's Childhood by cinematographer Vadim Yusov
. Work on the film resumed in the same month. The film was shot for the most part near Kaniv
at the Dnieper River
.
Tarkovsky continued his collobaration with cinematographer Vadim Yusov
, who was the cameraman in Tarkovsky's diploma film The Steamroller and the Violin
. Nikolai Burlyayev had played a role in Andrei Konchalovsky
's student film The Boy and the Pigeon. Konchalovsky was a friend and fellow student of Tarkovsky at the State Institute of Cinematography (VGIK), and thus Burlyayev was also cast for the role of Ivan. He had to pass several screen tests, but according to Burlyayev it is unclear whether anyone else auditioned for the role.
However, the film received numerous awards and international acclaim on its release, winning the Golden Lion
at the Venice Film Festival
. It attracted the attention of many intellectuals, including Ingmar Bergman
who said: "My discovery of Tarkovsky's first film was like a miracle. Suddenly, I found myself standing at the door of a room the keys of which had, until then, never been given to me. It was a room I had always wanted to enter and where he was moving freely and fully at ease."
Jean-Paul Sartre
wrote an article on the film, defending it against a highly critical article in the Italian newspaper L'Unita
and saying that it is one of the most beautiful films he had ever seen. Filmmaker Sergei Parajanov and Krzysztof Kieślowski
praised the film and cited it as influence on their work.
Andrei Tarkovsky
Andrei Arsenyevich Tarkovsky was a Soviet and Russian filmmaker, writer, film editor, film theorist, theatre and opera director, widely regarded as one of the finest filmmakers of the 20th century....
. The film was originally directed by Edward Gaikovich Abalyan. It is based on the 1957 short story Ivan
Ivan (short story)
Ivan is a 1957 short story written by Vladimir Bogomolov. The story relates the experiences of a 12-year-old orphan named Ivan Bondarev during World War II. The story was adapted into a successful film in 1962, directed by Andrei Tarkovsky....
by Vladimir Bogomolov
Vladimir Bogomolov
Vladimir Osipovich Bogomolov was a Soviet writer.When Bogomolov was still in school the Soviet Union was drawn into World War II. He joined the Army after completing only seven grades. He started the war as a private; when the war was over, he had a company under his command. He was wounded and...
, with the screenplay written by Mikhail Papava and an uncredited Andrei Tarkovsky
Andrei Tarkovsky
Andrei Arsenyevich Tarkovsky was a Soviet and Russian filmmaker, writer, film editor, film theorist, theatre and opera director, widely regarded as one of the finest filmmakers of the 20th century....
. The film features child actor Nikolai Burlyayev
Nikolai Burlyayev
Nikolai Petrovich Burlyayev is a renowned Soviet and Russian actor. Born into a family of actors, Nikolai started his acting career in film and theatre when he was still a child. He is best known for his title role in Andrei Tarkovsky's Ivan's Childhood. He worked with Tarkovsky again four years...
, Valentin Zubkov
Valentin Zubkov
Valentin Ivanovich Zubkov was a Soviet film actor.Valentin Ivanovich Zubkov was born in Peschanoye Settlement of Ryazan Province. He finished Armavir Military Aviation School and served as a pilot at frontlines of the German-Soviet War....
, Yevgeni Zharikov, Stepan Krylov, Nikolai Grinko
Nikolai Grinko
Nikolai Grigoryevich Grinko or Mykola Hryhorovych Hrynko , was a Soviet/Ukrainian actor.He is well known for his roles in the films of Andrei Tarkovsky, including: Ivan's Childhood, Andrei Rubliov, Solaris, Mirror, and Stalker. He starred in the 1981 film Teheran 43.-External links:...
and Tarkovsky's wife Irma Raush
Irma Raush
Irma Yakovlevna Raush is a Russian actress and the first wife of film director Andrei Tarkovsky. She is best known for her role as Durochka in Andrei Rublev and as Ivan's mother in Ivan's Childhood.-Biography:...
.
The film tells the story of orphan boy Ivan and his experiences during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. Ivan's Childhood was one of several Soviet films of the late 1950s, such as The Cranes Are Flying
The Cranes are Flying
The Cranes Are Flying is a Soviet film about World War II. It depicts the cruelty of war and the damage suffered to the Soviet psyche as a result of World War II . It was directed at Mosfilm by the Georgian-born Soviet director Mikhail Kalatozov in 1957 and stars Aleksey Batalov and Tatiana...
and Ballad of a Soldier
Ballad of a Soldier
Ballad of a Soldier , is a 1959 Soviet film directed by Grigori Chukhrai and starring Vladimir Ivashov and Zhanna Prokhorenko. While set during World War II, Ballad of a Soldier is not primarily a war film...
, that looked at the human cost of war and did not glorify the war experience as did films produced before the Khrushchev Thaw
Khrushchev Thaw
The Khrushchev Thaw refers to the period from the mid 1950s to the early 1960s, when repression and censorship in the Soviet Union were partially reversed and millions of Soviet political prisoners were released from Gulag labor camps, due to Nikita Khrushchev's policies of de-Stalinization and...
.
Ivan's Childhood was Tarkovsky's first feature film. It won him critical acclaim and made him internationally known. It won the Golden Lion
Golden Lion
Il Leone d’Oro is the highest prize given to a film at the Venice Film Festival. The prize was introduced in 1949 by the organizing committee and is now regarded as one of the film industry's most distinguished prizes...
at the Venice Film Festival
Venice Film Festival
The Venice International Film Festival is the oldest international film festival in the world. Founded by Count Giuseppe Volpi in 1932 as the "Esposizione Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica", the festival has since taken place every year in late August or early September on the island of the...
in 1962 and the Golden Gate Award at the San Francisco International Film Festival
San Francisco International Film Festival
San Francisco International Film Festival is the oldest continuously running film festival in the Americas. Organized by the San Francisco Film Society, the International is held each spring for two weeks, presenting an average of 150 films from over 50 countries...
in 1962. The film was also selected as the Soviet entry for the Best Foreign Language Film
Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film
The Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film is one of the Academy Awards of Merit, popularly known as the Oscars, handed out annually by the U.S.-based Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences...
at the 36th Academy Awards
36th Academy Awards
The 36th Academy Awards, honoring the best in film for 1963, were held on April 13, 1964 at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium in Santa Monica, California. They were hosted by Jack Lemmon....
, but was not accepted as a nominee. Famous filmmakers such as Ingmar Bergman
Ingmar Bergman
Ernst Ingmar Bergman was a Swedish director, writer and producer for film, stage and television. Described by Woody Allen as "probably the greatest film artist, all things considered, since the invention of the motion picture camera", he is recognized as one of the most accomplished and...
, Sergei Parajanov and Krzysztof Kieślowski
Krzysztof Kieslowski
Krzysztof Kieślowski was an Academy Award nominated influential Polish film director and screenwriter, known internationally for The Double Life of Veronique and his film cycles The Decalogue and Three Colors.-Early life:...
praised the film and cited it as an influence on their work.
Plot
The background of Ivan’s Childhood is the Eastern frontEastern Front (World War II)
The Eastern Front of World War II was a theatre of World War II between the European Axis powers and co-belligerent Finland against the Soviet Union, Poland, and some other Allies which encompassed Northern, Southern and Eastern Europe from 22 June 1941 to 9 May 1945...
during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, when the Soviet army
Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army started out as the Soviet Union's revolutionary communist combat groups during the Russian Civil War of 1918-1922. It grew into the national army of the Soviet Union. By the 1930s the Red Army was among the largest armies in history.The "Red Army" name refers to...
was fighting the invading German Wehrmacht
Wehrmacht
The Wehrmacht – from , to defend and , the might/power) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the Heer , the Kriegsmarine and the Luftwaffe .-Origin and use of the term:...
. The film features a non-linear plot with frequent flashbacks.
After a brief sequence that turns out to be a dream, Ivan Bondarev (Nikolai Burlyayev
Nikolai Burlyayev
Nikolai Petrovich Burlyayev is a renowned Soviet and Russian actor. Born into a family of actors, Nikolai started his acting career in film and theatre when he was still a child. He is best known for his title role in Andrei Tarkovsky's Ivan's Childhood. He worked with Tarkovsky again four years...
), a 12-year-old Russian boy who is the focus of the story, wakes up and crosses a war-torn landscape to a swamp from which he makes his way across a river. On the other side, he is seized by Russian soldiers and brought to the young Lieutenant Galtsev (Evgeny Zharikov), who interrogates him but is rebuffed by the boy, who insists that he call "Number 51 at Headquarters" and report his presence. Insulted by the boy's insolent attitude, he is reluctant, but when he eventually makes the call, he is told by Lieutenant-Colonel Gryaznov (Nikolai Grinko
Nikolai Grinko
Nikolai Grigoryevich Grinko or Mykola Hryhorovych Hrynko , was a Soviet/Ukrainian actor.He is well known for his roles in the films of Andrei Tarkovsky, including: Ivan's Childhood, Andrei Rubliov, Solaris, Mirror, and Stalker. He starred in the 1981 film Teheran 43.-External links:...
) to give the boy pencil and paper to make his report, which will be given the highest priority, and to treat him well. Through a series of dream sequence
Dream sequence
A dream sequence is a technique used in storytelling, particularly in television and film, to set apart a brief interlude from the main story. The interlude may consist of a flashback, a flashforward, a fantasy, a vision, a dream, or some other element. Commonly, dream sequences appear in many...
s and conversations between different characters it is revealed that Ivan’s parents and his sister have been killed by German soldiers. He however got away and joined a group of partisans. Sometime later the group was trapped in a forest surrounded by German troops. To keep Ivan out of their hands they put him on a plane. After the escape he was sent to a boarding school, but he ran away and joined an army unit under the command of Gryaznov.
In the army unit Ivan insists on fighting on the front line. Taking advantage of his small size he is able to get reconnaissance jobs for which grownups would be unsuitable. Ultimately Gryaznov and the other soldiers want to send him to a military school. They give up their idea as Ivan resists being sent away from the front line, up to the point where he tries to run away from the army unit and join the partisans. The film also reveals that the reasons for Ivan’s determination to fight are his desire to avenge the death of his family and others, such as those killed at the Maly Trostenets extermination camp
Maly Trostenets extermination camp
Maly Trastsianiets extermination camp , located near a small village on the outskirts of Minsk, Belarus, was the site of a Nazi extermination camp.- History :...
(which he mentions that he has seen).
The film also depicts the lives of the soldiers that Ivan meets, and a subplot involves Captain Kholin (Valentin Zubkov
Valentin Zubkov
Valentin Ivanovich Zubkov was a Soviet film actor.Valentin Ivanovich Zubkov was born in Peschanoye Settlement of Ryazan Province. He finished Armavir Military Aviation School and served as a pilot at frontlines of the German-Soviet War....
) and his aggressive advances towards the army nurse Masha (Valentina Malyavina). Much of the film is set in an army dugout where the officers await orders, planning assaults and talking apparent trivia while Ivan impatiently and nervously awaits his next reconnaissance mission.
Towards the end of the film, Kholin and Galtsev ferry Ivan across the Dnepr so that he can attempt a dangerous reconnaissance over the front line. He disappears through the swampy forest and the rest of the group returns to the other shore after cutting down the bodies of two scouts hanged by the Germans. The final scenes of the film then switch to Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
under Soviet occupation after the fall of the Third Reich. One of Ivan's former officer friends finds a Nazi prison where a document shows that Ivan was caught and executed by the Germans. As the officer reaches the execution room, we see a final flashback of Ivan's childhood: Ivan runs across a beach after a little girl in beautiful sunlight. The film's final image is that of a dead tree on the beach.
Cast
- Nikolay Burlyaev as Ivan (as Kolya Burlyayev)
- Valentin ZubkovValentin ZubkovValentin Ivanovich Zubkov was a Soviet film actor.Valentin Ivanovich Zubkov was born in Peschanoye Settlement of Ryazan Province. He finished Armavir Military Aviation School and served as a pilot at frontlines of the German-Soviet War....
as Capt. Kholin (as V. Zubkov) - Yevgeni Zharikov as Lt. Galtsev (as Ye. Zharikov)
- Stepan Krylov as Cpl. Katasonov (as S. Krylov)
- Nikolai GrinkoNikolai GrinkoNikolai Grigoryevich Grinko or Mykola Hryhorovych Hrynko , was a Soviet/Ukrainian actor.He is well known for his roles in the films of Andrei Tarkovsky, including: Ivan's Childhood, Andrei Rubliov, Solaris, Mirror, and Stalker. He starred in the 1981 film Teheran 43.-External links:...
as Lt. Col. Gryaznov (as N. Grinko) - Dmitri Milyutenko as Old Man (as D. Milyutenko)
- Valentina Malyavina as Masha (as V. Malyavina)
- Irma RaushIrma RaushIrma Yakovlevna Raush is a Russian actress and the first wife of film director Andrei Tarkovsky. She is best known for her role as Durochka in Andrei Rublev and as Ivan's mother in Ivan's Childhood.-Biography:...
as Ivan's Mother (as I. Tarkovskaya) - Andrey Konchalovskiy as Soldier (as A. Konchalovskiy)
Production
Ivan's Childhood was Tarkovsky's first feature film, shot two years after his diploma film The Steamroller and the ViolinThe Steamroller and the Violin
The Steamroller and the Violin , is a 1960 short film directed by Andrei Tarkovsky and from a screenplay written by Andrei Konchalovsky and Andrei Tarkovsky. The film tells the story of the unlikely friendship of Sasha , a little boy, and Sergey , the operator of a steamroller...
. The film is based on the 1957 short story Ivan by Vladimir Bogomolov
Vladimir Bogomolov
Vladimir Osipovich Bogomolov was a Soviet writer.When Bogomolov was still in school the Soviet Union was drawn into World War II. He joined the Army after completing only seven grades. He started the war as a private; when the war was over, he had a company under his command. He was wounded and...
, which was translated into more than twenty languages. It drew the attention of the screenwriter Mikhail Papava, who changed the story line and made Ivan more of a hero. Papava called his screenplay Second Life . In this screenplay Ivan is not executed, but sent to the concentration camp Majdanek
Majdanek
Majdanek was a German Nazi concentration camp on the outskirts of Lublin, Poland, established during the German Nazi occupation of Poland. The camp operated from October 1, 1941 until July 22, 1944, when it was captured nearly intact by the advancing Soviet Red Army...
, from where he is freed by the advancing Soviet army. The final scene of this screenplay shows Ivan meeting one of the officers of the army unit in a train compartment. Bogomolov, who is not satisfied with this ending, intervenes and the screenplay is changed to the original version of Bogomolov.
Mosfilm
Mosfilm
Mosfilm is a film studio, which is often described as the largest and oldest in Russia and in Europe. Its output includes most of the more widely-acclaimed Soviet films, ranging from works by Tarkovsky and Eisenstein , to Red Westerns, to the Akira Kurosawa co-production and the epic Война и Мир...
gave the screenplay to the young film director Eduard Abalov. Shooting was aborted and the film project was terminated in December 1960, since the first version of the film drew heavy criticism from the arts council, and the quality was deemed unsatisfactory and unusable. In June 1961 the film project was given to Tarkovsky, who had applied for it after being told about Ivan's Childhood by cinematographer Vadim Yusov
Vadim Yusov
Vadim Ivanovich Yusov is a Soviet and Russian cinematographer and a professor of the Gerasimov Institute of Cinematography, who worked with Andrey Tarkovsky on The Steamroller and the Violin, Ivan's Childhood, Andrei Rublev and Solaris, and with Georgi Daneliya on I Step Through Moscow...
. Work on the film resumed in the same month. The film was shot for the most part near Kaniv
Kaniv
Kaniv is a city located in the Cherkasy Oblast in central Ukraine. The city rests on the Dnieper River, and is also one of the main inland river ports on the Dnieper...
at the Dnieper River
Dnieper River
The Dnieper River is one of the major rivers of Europe that flows from Russia, through Belarus and Ukraine, to the Black Sea.The total length is and has a drainage basin of .The river is noted for its dams and hydroelectric stations...
.
Tarkovsky continued his collobaration with cinematographer Vadim Yusov
Vadim Yusov
Vadim Ivanovich Yusov is a Soviet and Russian cinematographer and a professor of the Gerasimov Institute of Cinematography, who worked with Andrey Tarkovsky on The Steamroller and the Violin, Ivan's Childhood, Andrei Rublev and Solaris, and with Georgi Daneliya on I Step Through Moscow...
, who was the cameraman in Tarkovsky's diploma film The Steamroller and the Violin
The Steamroller and the Violin
The Steamroller and the Violin , is a 1960 short film directed by Andrei Tarkovsky and from a screenplay written by Andrei Konchalovsky and Andrei Tarkovsky. The film tells the story of the unlikely friendship of Sasha , a little boy, and Sergey , the operator of a steamroller...
. Nikolai Burlyayev had played a role in Andrei Konchalovsky
Andrei Konchalovsky
Andrei Mikhalkov-Konchalovsky is a Soviet-American and Russian film director, film producer and screenwriter....
's student film The Boy and the Pigeon. Konchalovsky was a friend and fellow student of Tarkovsky at the State Institute of Cinematography (VGIK), and thus Burlyayev was also cast for the role of Ivan. He had to pass several screen tests, but according to Burlyayev it is unclear whether anyone else auditioned for the role.
Responses
Ivan's Childhood was one of Tarkovsky's commercially most successful films, selling 16.7 million tickets in the Soviet Union. Tarkovsky himself was displeased with some aspects of the film; in his book Sculpting in Time, he writes at length about subtle changes to certain scenes that he regrets not implementing.However, the film received numerous awards and international acclaim on its release, winning the Golden Lion
Golden Lion
Il Leone d’Oro is the highest prize given to a film at the Venice Film Festival. The prize was introduced in 1949 by the organizing committee and is now regarded as one of the film industry's most distinguished prizes...
at the Venice Film Festival
Venice Film Festival
The Venice International Film Festival is the oldest international film festival in the world. Founded by Count Giuseppe Volpi in 1932 as the "Esposizione Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica", the festival has since taken place every year in late August or early September on the island of the...
. It attracted the attention of many intellectuals, including Ingmar Bergman
Ingmar Bergman
Ernst Ingmar Bergman was a Swedish director, writer and producer for film, stage and television. Described by Woody Allen as "probably the greatest film artist, all things considered, since the invention of the motion picture camera", he is recognized as one of the most accomplished and...
who said: "My discovery of Tarkovsky's first film was like a miracle. Suddenly, I found myself standing at the door of a room the keys of which had, until then, never been given to me. It was a room I had always wanted to enter and where he was moving freely and fully at ease."
Jean-Paul Sartre
Jean-Paul Sartre
Jean-Paul Charles Aymard Sartre was a French existentialist philosopher, playwright, novelist, screenwriter, political activist, biographer, and literary critic. He was one of the leading figures in 20th century French philosophy, particularly Marxism, and was one of the key figures in literary...
wrote an article on the film, defending it against a highly critical article in the Italian newspaper L'Unita
L'Unità
l'Unità is an Italian left-wing newspaper, originally founded as official newspaper of the Italian Communist Party.-History:L'Unità was founded by Antonio Gramsci on 12 February 1924, as the newspaper of workers and peasants, the official newspaper of Italian Communist Party : it was printed in...
and saying that it is one of the most beautiful films he had ever seen. Filmmaker Sergei Parajanov and Krzysztof Kieślowski
Krzysztof Kieslowski
Krzysztof Kieślowski was an Academy Award nominated influential Polish film director and screenwriter, known internationally for The Double Life of Veronique and his film cycles The Decalogue and Three Colors.-Early life:...
praised the film and cited it as influence on their work.
See also
- List of submissions to the 36th Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film
- List of Russian submissions for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film
External links
- The short story Ivan by Vladimir BogomolovVladimir BogomolovVladimir Osipovich Bogomolov was a Soviet writer.When Bogomolov was still in school the Soviet Union was drawn into World War II. He joined the Army after completing only seven grades. He started the war as a private; when the war was over, he had a company under his command. He was wounded and...
- Jean Paul Sartre's Article on Ivan's Childhood