{"id":83070,"date":"2022-04-16T22:43:46","date_gmt":"2022-04-17T05:43:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=83070"},"modified":"2022-04-23T21:33:04","modified_gmt":"2022-04-24T04:33:04","slug":"ballad-of-a-soldier-1959","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=83070","title":{"rendered":"Ballad of a Soldier (1959)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>&#8220;Instead of my decoration, could I go home to see my mother?&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/Ballad-of-a-Soldier-Poster.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/Ballad-of-a-Soldier-Poster-208x300.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"208\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-83071\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/Ballad-of-a-Soldier-Poster-208x300.png 208w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/Ballad-of-a-Soldier-Poster-89x128.png 89w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/Ballad-of-a-Soldier-Poster-187x270.png 187w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/Ballad-of-a-Soldier-Poster.png 581w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 208px) 100vw, 208px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Synopsis:<\/strong><br \/>\nDuring World War II, a 19-year-old private (Volodya Ivashov) is given unprecedented leave to visit his mother (Antonina Maksimova) for two days, Along the way he helps a wounded soldier (Yevgeni Urbansky) return to his wife, and falls for a beautiful young woman (Zhanna Prokhorenko) stowing away on a train.\n<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p>\n<strong>Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>First Love<\/li>\n<li>Road Trips<\/li>\n<li>Russian Films<\/li>\n<li>Soldiers<\/li>\n<li>World War II<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Response to Peary&#8217;s Review: <\/strong><br \/>\nPeary writes that this Soviet-era film &#8212; made with &#8220;sensitive and warm&#8221; direction by Ukrainian Grigori Chukhrai &#8212; remains &#8220;one of our most powerful anti-war films, one that effectively conveys the suffering of the men and (especially) women who are separated when there is a call to arms.&#8221; (Sadly, this remains as true and current as ever in the very region of the world where this movie takes place.) He notes that &#8220;the storyline is simple&#8221; but by opening the film with narration informing us that Ivashov &#8220;was killed in battle during WWII&#8221; we view the events that occur through a different perspective. <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/Ballad-of-a-Soldier-Mother-Road.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/Ballad-of-a-Soldier-Mother-Road.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"911\" height=\"659\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-83083\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/Ballad-of-a-Soldier-Mother-Road.png 911w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/Ballad-of-a-Soldier-Mother-Road-300x217.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/Ballad-of-a-Soldier-Mother-Road-128x93.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/Ballad-of-a-Soldier-Mother-Road-768x556.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/Ballad-of-a-Soldier-Mother-Road-373x270.png 373w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 911px) 100vw, 911px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Peary asserts that &#8220;critic Dwight MacDonald correctly criticized this film (in 1960) for making all Russian people and soldiers so lovable&#8221; &#8212; well, except for that fellow on the train who blackmails Ivashov out of a can of meat: <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/Ballad-of-a-Soldier-Blackmail.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/Ballad-of-a-Soldier-Blackmail.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"912\" height=\"657\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-83073\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/Ballad-of-a-Soldier-Blackmail.png 912w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/Ballad-of-a-Soldier-Blackmail-300x216.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/Ballad-of-a-Soldier-Blackmail-128x92.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/Ballad-of-a-Soldier-Blackmail-768x553.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/Ballad-of-a-Soldier-Blackmail-375x270.png 375w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 912px) 100vw, 912px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&#8230; but he believes that &#8220;the anti-war message is sincerely delivered, and the emphasis on the suffering of those whose husbands and sons are in combat seems correct.&#8221; Peary further points out that Chukhrai&#8217;s &#8220;depiction of women is admirable,&#8221; and that he &#8220;lovingly films Russia&#8217;s landscape and the lovely faces of his actors and actresses.&#8221; <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/Ballad-of-a-Soldier-Prokhorenko.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/Ballad-of-a-Soldier-Prokhorenko.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"913\" height=\"663\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-83074\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/Ballad-of-a-Soldier-Prokhorenko.png 913w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/Ballad-of-a-Soldier-Prokhorenko-300x218.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/Ballad-of-a-Soldier-Prokhorenko-128x93.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/Ballad-of-a-Soldier-Prokhorenko-768x558.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/Ballad-of-a-Soldier-Prokhorenko-372x270.png 372w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 913px) 100vw, 913px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>I&#8217;m in overall agreement with Peary&#8217;s review of this simple but touching film, one which humanizes the enemy (Russians) and touches upon the universality of our needs and desires (family, love, connection). Along with <a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=83050\"><em>The Cranes Are Flying<\/em> (1957)<\/a>, it provides compelling evidence of a short-lived period of Soviet cinema when creative constraints were temporarily lifted, and remains well worth a look. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Notable Performances, Qualities, and Moments: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Atmospheric cinematography<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/Ballad-of-a-Soldier-Cinematography3.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/Ballad-of-a-Soldier-Cinematography3.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"921\" height=\"665\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-83075\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/Ballad-of-a-Soldier-Cinematography3.png 921w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/Ballad-of-a-Soldier-Cinematography3-300x217.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/Ballad-of-a-Soldier-Cinematography3-128x92.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/Ballad-of-a-Soldier-Cinematography3-768x555.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/Ballad-of-a-Soldier-Cinematography3-374x270.png 374w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 921px) 100vw, 921px\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/Ballad-of-a-Soldier-Face-Lighting.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/Ballad-of-a-Soldier-Face-Lighting.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"933\" height=\"665\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-83076\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/Ballad-of-a-Soldier-Face-Lighting.png 933w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/Ballad-of-a-Soldier-Face-Lighting-300x214.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/Ballad-of-a-Soldier-Face-Lighting-128x91.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/Ballad-of-a-Soldier-Face-Lighting-768x547.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/Ballad-of-a-Soldier-Face-Lighting-379x270.png 379w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 933px) 100vw, 933px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Numerous memorable moments<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/Ballad-of-a-Soldier-Oh-Vasya.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/Ballad-of-a-Soldier-Oh-Vasya.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"911\" height=\"675\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-83077\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/Ballad-of-a-Soldier-Oh-Vasya.png 911w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/Ballad-of-a-Soldier-Oh-Vasya-300x222.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/Ballad-of-a-Soldier-Oh-Vasya-128x95.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/Ballad-of-a-Soldier-Oh-Vasya-768x569.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/Ballad-of-a-Soldier-Oh-Vasya-364x270.png 364w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 911px) 100vw, 911px\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/Ballad-of-a-Soldier-Arms-Hay.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/Ballad-of-a-Soldier-Arms-Hay.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"903\" height=\"663\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-83078\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/Ballad-of-a-Soldier-Arms-Hay.png 903w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/Ballad-of-a-Soldier-Arms-Hay-300x220.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/Ballad-of-a-Soldier-Arms-Hay-128x94.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/Ballad-of-a-Soldier-Arms-Hay-768x564.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/Ballad-of-a-Soldier-Arms-Hay-368x270.png 368w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 903px) 100vw, 903px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Must See? <\/strong><br \/>\nYes, as a classic of post-war Soviet cinema. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Categories<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Foreign Gem<\/li>\n<li>Historically Relevant<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Links: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0052600\/\">IMDb entry<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dvdtalk.com\/dvdsavant\/s475russ.html\">DVD Savant Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tcm.com\/tcmdb\/title\/68023\/ballad-of-a-soldier#articles-reviews?articleId=235378\">TCM Article<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.timeout.com\/movies\/ballad-of-a-soldier\">Time Out Capsule Review<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;Instead of my decoration, could I go home to see my mother?&#8221; Synopsis: During World War II, a 19-year-old private (Volodya Ivashov) is given unprecedented leave to visit his mother (Antonina Maksimova) for two days, Along the way he helps a wounded soldier (Yevgeni Urbansky) return to his wife, and falls for a beautiful young woman (Zhanna Prokhorenko) stowing away on a train. Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors: First Love Road Trips Russian Films Soldiers World War II Response to&#8230;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"><a class=\"btn btn-default\" href=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=83070\"> Read More<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">  Read More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-83070","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-responses-to-peary"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83070","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=83070"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83070\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":83297,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83070\/revisions\/83297"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=83070"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=83070"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=83070"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}