Ballad of a Soldier is a film directed by Grigori Chukhrai which was produced in 1959. The film’s storyline centers on a soldier named Alyosha, and his journey home on leave from the front. Alyosha is granted a leave as a reward for the heroic act of destroying two enemy tanks. Throughout his journey home, he stops many times in order to help other people. He delivers soap for a soldier he does not know well named Pavlov, he helps a soldier returning from the front, and he travels with Shura for most of the film.
I found that Ballad of a Soldier was quite unique in comparison to other World War Two films I have viewed or related books I have read. In books such as Donald Burgett’s memoirs, E.B. Sledge's With the Old Breed, or Mansur Abdulin's Red Road from Stalingrad: Recollections of a Soviet Infantryman, the stories focus more on the fighting aspect of war and the relationship between men on the front. Leaves are often discussed in these memoirs, but are not discussed to the extent that Ballad of a Soldier reveals to the viewer. In the memoir Parachute Infantry, the author simply tells the reader that when the war was over he headed for Paris, and this is how the book ends. The same holds true for war films. In Saving Private Ryan, Beach Red, When Trumpets Fade, and many more films, the plots involve the day to day life of a soldier on the frontlines of war. Rarely, if ever, do these films explore soldiers’ leaves to return home such as the leave taken by Alyosha in Ballad of a Soldier.
What I found most interesting about Ballad of a Soldier when compared to the other films that we have watched in Russian Cinema is that the film focuses more on the story of Alyosha and the entertainment of the viewer. This is unique when compared to Socialist Realist films, which seemed to focus more on some sort of propaganda message rather than developing an entertaining story. I thought that the introduction of a message could at times detract from the artistic value or the entertainment of the film.
One thing I did find odd about the film is that in the reading from Beumers, Beumers states that the plot of Ballad of a Soldier “is entirely narrated as a flashback of Alesha’s mother” (120-121). If this is true, then it would mean that most of the film is entirely a figment of Alyosha’s mother’s imagination. In the end of the film the two only meet for a brief moment before Alyosha has to return to the front. There is no way that Alyosha would be able to tell his mother the entire story that is conveyed in the film in those few minutes. This would mean that it is possible that the mother created the entire plot of the film in her mind in order to cope with the fact that her son is at war.
I agree with you. This felt more like an actual story than just propaganda being thrown at us. I felt no Socialist Realist in this film what so ever.
ReplyDeleteI think Beumers's assertion that this film is entirely narrated as a flashback of Alyosha's mother is highly debatable--in fact, I would have to say it's nonsense because, as you point out, she would have had no knowledge of these things. Now, whether the action of the film is all stuff she is imagining *might* have happened might be possible--but I doubt it.
ReplyDeleteAnd I agree that the film is unique in how it places its emphasis on life away from battle and the front. It sounds like you have a pretty strong knowledge of the period--and of the films and literature that deal with it, so I'm glad to hear that the film was able to add an additional perspective for you.
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