The winner of the 1961 BAFTA Award for Best Film and a nominee for an
Academy Award for Best Screenplay and for the prestigious Palme d'Or at
the 1960 Cannes Film Festival, BALLAD OF A SOLDIER is an engaging and
deeply moving romantic drama set against the backdrop of war-torn
Russia.In the midst of the Second World War, 19-year-old Russian
soldier Alyosha (Vladimir Ivashov) earns himself a medal of honour for
single-handedly destroying two advancing German tanks. Instead of
accepting the medal, he requests a leave of absence from the front line
in order to visit his mother and to mend the leaking roof of her remote
rural farmhouse. With his request granted, Alyosha begins an arduous
and much-delayed journey eastwards that will change not only his own
life, but also the lives of those he meets along way. Among them are a
one-legged soldier afraid to return home in his injured state, the
adulterous wife of a comrade to whom Alyosha has agreed to deliver a
gift and, most significantly, a beautiful young girl named Shura (Zhana
Prokhorenko) with whom he falls in love.
Through this deceptively
simple tale director Grigory Chukhrai presents a fascinating and subtly
critical insight into the everyday lives of ordinary Russian people
struggling to survive the hardships brought about by war. Despite being
made after a relaxation of Soviet state censorship applied to cinema,
BALLAD OF A SOLDIER still proved to be a controversial film in its
country of origin, primarily for exposing several sexual issues never
before dealt with in Soviet cinema.
Boasting a powerfully
emotional script and impressive performances from its lead actors,
BALLAD OF A SOLDIER also features outstanding black and white
cinematography that adds an undeniable strength to Chukhrai's vision of
life during wartime.
A little seen classic of Russian cinema,
BALLAD OF A SOLDIER is a perfect companion piece to Mikheil
Kalatozishvili's better known but similarly themed film, The Cranes Are
Flying, which is also released on DVD by Nouveaux Pictures on 29th
January 2007.
BALLAD OF A SOLDIER (cert. PG) will be released on
DVD (£19.99) by Nouveaux Pictures on 29th January 2007. Special
Features include interview with director Grigory Chukhrai, Chronicle,
photo gallery, filmographies, RUSCICO trailer, English 5.1 (dubbed),
Russian 5.1 with English subtitles and chapter selection.