Ballad of a Soldier

In my opinion, this was the best movie we have watched in this class so far. The excerpt that we read from Tarkovsky's book claimed that a film had to be able to appeal to a person's feelings to be a work of art. Tarkovsky also professed that art had to have an appeal to people; in other words people needed to be able to see the truth in a work of art in order to be able to appreciate the work of art. Ballad of a Soldier seemingly met all of Tarkovsky's requirements. This film focused on the home front of WWII as opposed to the front lines. The focus of this movie was the effect that WWII had on individual's lives. Unlike other war films - and Socialist Realist movies - Ballad of a Soldier did not have any main villains. The Germans were definitely the main adversaries of the Russians on the front lines, but they were more of an invisible force in this movie. Unlike a Socialist Realist movie, this film did not portray the Russians as universally good, nor anybody else as universally bad. People were just people in this movie. However, Alyosha was seemingly the hero of this movie and behaved in a way that the Soviet government probably would have liked their citizens to emulate.

Moral integrity was apparently the main theme of this movie (replacing the party idealism of the Socialist Realist films). Like most of the other films that we have watched so far, Alyosha went out of his way to help anybody that needed aid without a thought for receiving anything in return. Brotherhood was seemingly an ideal that was promoted in this movie. However, none of the characters in this movie were without personality flaws. Alyosha sometimes became frustrated by his situation and often became infuriated. Shura lied to Alyosha and was easily frightened (which I personally felt was a nice change from characters that were never scared of anything). Ballad of a Soldier apparently strongly advocated for one to be kind, moral, and help one's fellow man whenever possible. However, all of these messages fit in well with the captivating storyline of this movie. In other words, there were not themes in this movie that were placed into the film simply to have them in there. Sometimes Socialist Realist films seemed to replace storylines with blantant propaganda.

Alyosha's journey home was almost like The Odyssey. He had to face multiple trials in order to reach his final destination. However, his trip probably reminded most viewers that one can die at anytime. Alyosha was definitely a man that lived every day as though it was his last. His quest was entwined with the lives of others. Although the film was fairly lighthearted throughout - thanks to some humerous dialogue - there were some somber moments as well. I was particularly struck by the life of the soldier that had given Alyosha soap to give to his wife. She was the only thing that was keeping him going on the front lines. He was living through hell every day dreaming of returning to her someday. I felt terrible for him when we discovered that his wife was seemingly working as a prostitute in order to compensate for his absence. She could have done any multiple number of different jobs, but she was incapable of showing the same courage that her husband had. Fortunately for the unfortunate soldier, he had his father waiting anxiously for him to return. This part of the movie highlighted that not all Russians were perfect in this film. Also, one became disgusted by the moral impurity of the unfaithful wife (which was probably the entire point).

Shura was seemingly a morally sound character and a 'strong' woman. She had not been tainted by the war and she snuck onto a military train even though there was considerable risk. However, she was necessary in order for Alyosha to be able to help all of the people that he did. Without her support - even by just going places with him or by giving him somebody to want to return to - Alyosha would probably not have been as motivated to have helped as many people as he did and he probably would have lost sight of his goal to return home. She also relied on his ability to talk them out of problematic situations and his overall ingenuity to return home.

Alyosha's meeting with his mother was both joyful and sad. I was worried that they would drive past her when she was running out from the fields. Fortunately, she was able to see her son for a brief spell before he had to return to the front lines. At least she got to see him one more time before he died. However, they did not have enough time together because of all of the delays that Alyosha experienced. Here he had won the chance to visit his mom on leave and he was only able to spend a few minutes with her. In my opinion, his journey was still worthwhile. This was almost Alyosha making up for not saying goodbye to his mother and thankfully doing so before he was killed.

Quite frankly, I felt that this movie was entirely universal. The story could have been set during any other country during WWII without any significant problems. Perhaps only small aspects of the movie were unique to the Soviet Union, such as when Alyosha was recquired to present his papers to an officer. Also, soldiers in other countries may have had an easier or more difficult journey home (depending on the country). However, storyline and messages were seemingly universal in their appeal. I would have placed this movie more towards the entertainment and art side of the triangle because the propaganda was masked. Still, the 'truth' of this movie was very apparent. I believe that Tarkovsky would have enjoyed this film. Ballad of a Soldier appealed to one's emotions and feelings through a storyline filled with humerous dialogue, somber situations, and tragic scenarios. Also, 'truth' of this movie would have been apparent to a wide audience due to an appeal for upstanding moral quality.