Ivan's Childhood (1962)
"Ivanovo detstvo" (original title)

During World War II, 12-year old Ivan works as a spy on the eastern front. The small Ivan can cross the German lines unnoticed to collect information. Three Soviet officers try to take care... See full summary »

Director:

Andrei Tarkovsky

Writers:

Vladimir Bogomolov (story), Vladimir Bogomolov (screenplay),

Stars:

Nikolay Burlyaev, Valentin Zubkov, Evgeniy Zharikov

2 wins.

Cast

Cast overview:
Nikolay Burlyaev	...	Ivan (as Kolya Burlyayev)
Valentin Zubkov	...	Capt. Kholin (as V. Zubkov)
Evgeniy Zharikov	...	Lt. Galtsev (as Ye. Zharikov)
Stepan Krylov	...	Cpl. Katasonov (as S. Krylov)
Nikolay Grinko	...	Lt. Col. Gryaznov (as N. Grinko)
Dmitri Milyutenko	...	Old Man (as D. Milyutenko)
Valentina Malyavina	...	Masha (as V. Malyavina)
Irina Tarkovskaya	...	Ivan's Mother (as I. Tarkovskaya)
Andrey Konchalovskiy	...	Soldier (as A. Konchalovskiy)
Ivan Savkin	...	(as I. Savkin)
Vladimir Marenkov	...	(as V. Marenkov)
Vera Miturich	...	Girl

Storyline

During World War II, 12-year old Ivan works as a spy on the eastern front. The small Ivan can cross the German lines unnoticed to collect information. Three Soviet officers try to take care of this boy-child.

---

Plot Keywords:

boy | dream | spy | thinness | 1940s | 

---

Genres:

Drama | War

---

Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

Soviet Union

Language:

Russian German

Release Date:

27 June 1963 (USA)

Also Known As:

Ivan's Childhood

Filming Locations:

Dnieper River, Kanev, Ukraine

Company Credits

Production Co:

Mosfilm

Technical Specs

Runtime:

95 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The movie was based on a short story "Ivan" by Vladimir Bogomolov. Andrei Tarkovsky wrote in his book "Sculpting in Time" later that he did not find the book very good, but stories that were not well written were easier to adapt into films.

---

Connections

Referenced in Life as a Dream (2007)

User Reviews

Not perfect, but still a great film

With this, I have now seen all seven of Andrei Tarkovsky's features. I still have to see Steamroller and Violin, his student film. From a directorial standpoint, Ivan's Childhood is Tarkovsky's weakest film. It does not contain the kinds of things we associate with Tarkosky the auteur. If I had seen this when it first appeared, I would have definitely been impressed with it. But with Andrei Rublev, Tarkovsky created one of the best films ever made, a label that Ivan's Childhood is not likely to ever receive. Still, it is a great film with several great scenes. The problem is that Tarkovsky took this film over from another director. He didn't plan it. His major contributions were the several dream sequences, which are the best parts of the film (especially the one where Ivan and his sister are riding in the back of an apple truck when it is raining). Besides these dream sequences, there are several other good sequences and at least one other great one (the scene I refer to here is the one in the birch forest with Masha). The final sequence is beautiful and it brought me to tears. 9/10.