Ivan's Childhood

love the blocking in this film. just the way its all orchestrated, from the actors positions to the lighting and even as something so simple as the usage of a mirror fills me with joy.

the film itself and the things in it are far less joyous but still.
tarkovsky is able to balance the nihilistic tone of the war time with also a sense not knowing where to belong when all you've know for your entire life has been swept away.

one time i've heard something, idk where but either way, "to make the gravity of billions or millions of lives feel at stake, you have to make it personall" which funny enough was about superhero films but i'd argue the same applies to war films.
films like all quiet on the western front by edward berger and 1917 as newer examples, fail miserably because they are more interesting in the visceral action and their gimmicks then actual telling anything meaningfull. ivan's childhood keeps it between a boy and a few men which allows for the bond between them to flourish but also see how maturity isn't what ivan is but more so terrified and war made.

(watch my filmography: https://boxd.it/2A45h )

Ivan's Childhood1962

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