La Ballade du soldat

In its day a powerhouse of festival awards around the world. I remember its release on TV during the communist era, when I loved the extremely likeable central couple of young actors and the wonderful portrayal of their love relationship, and the emotional climax of the film – the son's fleeting meeting with his mother during his leave, when she can hardly even hug him and he has to go back to the front – almost brought tears to my eyes. There's even a little bit of an unobtrusive anti-war appeal. Beautifully acted, beautifully directed, surprisingly and endearingly "non-Soviet" and free of political ballast. A very nice and enjoyable film and a well-deserved worldwide success. PS: It's a shame that the old Russian cinema is now cursed, but it has a lot of beautiful films to offer, not just the thousand-times seen Frosty. (06/05/2006)