User reviews

A touching story of a Czech boy who is liberated from a concentration camp and then picked up by a Czechoslovak Army laundry unit under Soviet command. He becomes the unit's mascot, and is given the nickname "prace" or "slingshot bearer" after Czech boys who had fought with slingshots in the Czech Hussite armies of the 15th century. The boy, along with a little Slovak girl whom the unit also rescues up along the way, participate in the liberation of his homeland.

Prace (1960, USSR-Czech) has many elements akin to Ivan's Childhood (1962, USSR-Russia) but is more light-hearted, if such terminology is appropriate for an active war zone, with a child protagonist. It's not a classic but is a decent competitor, especially if you've seen the Russian variant. I rated Ivan's Childhood a 10 and would rate Prace a 7.5 if I could. I suspect Tarkovsky modeled his movie after Prace. Entertaining, but may be difficult to find.