Ballad of a Soldier

I really enjoyed the Ballad of a Soldier alot. It had a very good story line and it kept me very interested. This war film was alot different than alot of the other war films that we have watched though. It focused alot more on the individual soldier Aleksei. It also doesn't really contain that many battle scenes. There is the opening scene with him all by himself in the field, when he takes on two tanks, then after that the rest of the film is all about his trip home. It explores the heart of the common soldier. This movie differs greatly from the Socialist Realist films that we have been watching in that there is no real obvious propaganda message included in the film. It does show you that alot of common people can be great heroes, but that isnt the same message as the Socialist Realist films try to send out. I think that it does carry a message of bravery, courage, and heroism. Aleksei stops both of the tanks in the beginning by himself. Then he goes on to save alot of people from the burning train. I think that it also had the message that Russians need to show more recognition for the soldiers lost in the war. Like we were talking about in class, a whole generation of men were wiped out. As you can see in the film, there is almost no respect shown for Aleksei. First his commander won't believe that he took out the tanks by himself. Then nobody on the train car will believe him either. After he saves all of the people from the burning train, people are telling him to get out of the way and calling him lazy. I think that Chukhrai was trying to show that the Russians were lacking respect for the lost men in WWII.

I would place this film in the entertainment category more than any of the others. It just kept me very interested, and I don't really feel like I was getting a major propagandistic message from the film. It was an artistic film and it was put together really well, butI would definitely classify it as more of an entertaining film.

Even though this story is only about one man, it was fairly easy for me to think of him as every other soldier in the war for Russia. I think that all of the encounters that he has show how caring he is and how much that the Russian soldiers did for their country. Everything is shown on the scale of one person, but he is supposed to represent every member of the army.

Aleksei's meeting with his mother seemed to be very, very brief. It kind of disapointed me, and I think that that is exactly what Chukhrai wanted to do with this scene. He wants you to see how much the mothers and wives suffered through this time of WWII. He barely gets to speak to his mother before he has to head back to the front lines. It really makes you feel sorry for him and his mother, and for all soldiers and their families. It shows the great losses that Russia had from the war.