Ivan's Childhood

Original title: Ivanovo detstvo

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During WWII, Soviet orphan Ivan Bondarev strikes up a friendship with three sympathetic Soviet officers while working as a scout behind the German lines.During WWII, Soviet orphan Ivan Bondarev strikes up a friendship with three sympathetic Soviet officers while working as a scout behind the German lines.During WWII, Soviet orphan Ivan Bondarev strikes up a friendship with three sympathetic Soviet officers while working as a scout behind the German lines.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

8.0/10

41K

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Awards
- 2 wins

Photos143

+ 137

Top cast13

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Nikolay Burlyaev

Ivan Bondarev
(as Kolya Burlyaev)

Valentin Zubkov

Leonid Kholin
(as V. Zubkov)

Evgeniy Zharikov

Galtsev
(as Ye. Zharikov)

Stepan Krylov

Katasonov
(as S. Krylov)

Nikolay Grinko

Gryaznov
(as N. Grinko)

Dmitri Milyutenko

Old Man
(as D. Milyutenko)

Valentina Malyavina

Masha
(as V. Malyavina)

Irma Tarkovskaya

Ivan's Mother
(as I. Tarkovskaya)

Andrey Konchalovskiy

Soldier with glasses
(as A. Konchalovskiy)

Ivan Savkin

Vladimir Marenkov

Vera Miturich

Girl

Nikolay Smorchkov

Starshina
(uncredited)

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Storyline

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Did you know

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Trivia
Tarkosvky shows real footage of occupied Berlin, including the charred corpse of Joseph Goebbels, Hitler's Minister of propaganda, and the bodies of his six children murdered by their parents in Berlin on 1 May 1945.

Goofs
When Kholin and Galtsev take Ivan across the river in the boat, a tree into the water falls near them. It is supposed to be because of the military action taking place, but it can be seen that the base of the tree has been sawn across in a straight line.

Quotes
Ivan's Mother: If a well is really deep, you can see a star down there even in the middle of a sunny day.

Connections
Edited into Moskovskaya elegiya (1990)

Soundtracks
Ne velyat Mashe
[Song played on the gramophone. English translation: "Masha is not allowed beyond the river".]

User reviews100

Review

Featured review

10/10

A memorable film.

This film by Tarkovsky depicts the story of Ivan, a child partisan in the eastern front during the second world war. The strength and immersion of the film are quite amazing, although it was made almost forty years ago it has not lost any of it's power and is still absolutely gripping. The dream sequences are especially powerful in the way they show the history and state of mind of the young Ivan.

The acting is very good and so are all the other aspects such as editing and cinematography that is exceptionally good. Overall the film is an example of directorial excellence, from a very simple story Tarkovsky is able to build a larger history with obvious references to christianity. Questions about humanity and the nature of humankind are in the center of this film and there are many reasons why this is one of the best war films that exist.