Nikolai Burlyayev as Ivan
When we first meet Ivan he’s a happy child running dream-like through the forest, only to wake-up in a war-torn landscape. If coming of age is understanding the horrors of war, then Nikolai Burlyayev as Ivan is certainly well beyond that age by the time we meet him in the 1962 film Ivanovo detstvo (Ivan’s Childhood).
Nikolai Burlyayev
We learn about Ivan through young Lieutenant Galtsev (Evgeny Zharikov) who becomes our eyes and ears of this story, and by the last frame our conscience. When the wet dirty child is brought to him after crossing the front lines, Galtsev tries to interrogate 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 a pencil and paper to make his report, which will be given the highest priority, and treat him well.
When Andrei Tarkovsky was invited by Mosfilm to direct this story of a twelve-year-old scout on the front lines in World War II, he agreed to do so only with the addition of four interludes, in which Ivan dreams of “the life he has been robbed of — a normal childhood.” And it is this poetic imagery that has brought critical acclaim and numerous awards to this his first film.
Nikolai Burlyayev
We learn that it is Ivan’s job to collect information behind enemy lines. Taking advantage of his small size he is able to slip through the barred wire, while the enemy would just see him as another lost war orphan on the landscape. Ultimately, Gryaznov and the other soldiers want to send him to a military school. They give up their idea when Ivan resists being sent away from the front line, up to the point where he tries to run away from the army unit and joins the partisans. The reason for Ivan’s determination to fight is 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).
Nikolai Grinko, Nikolai Burlyayev
Unable to control the boy or persuade him otherwise, Officers Kholin and Galtsev ferry Ivan across the river and swamp so that he can attempt a dangerous reconnaissance one more time. He disappears through the swampy forest and the rest of the group returns to the other shore after cutting down the bodies of two other scouts hanged by the Germans. There they wait patiently for Ivan’s return.
Nikolai Burlyayev
Nikolai Burlyayev has one of the most haunting young faces ever to appear on screen. Poetically edited, surreal at times, breathtaking in it’s cinematic imagery, Ivan’s Childhood is one of the most memorable films ever made about the effects of war on children. Essential viewing!
1962 Mosfilm, Director Andrei Tarkovsky, with Evgeny Zharikov, Nikolai Grinko and Nikolai Burlyayev .
Trivia Note: A similiar story was made previously in 1960 by Russian director Karel Kachyna as “Prace.” As Andrei Tarkovsky’s film went on to fame and critical reviews, Prace was lost to film history.
