Product: My Name Is Ivan [VHS] (1963)
Rating: 5.0
My Favorite Tarkovsky Film
"My Name Is Ivan" ("Ivan's Childhood") was a 1962 Russian (Soviet-Era) film by director Andrei Tarkovsky. It is his first full-length feature film (made after his short film "The The Steamroller and the Violin" from 1961). Of all Tarkovsky's films, this is my personal favorite. This is a great film: you should watch it. The film includes several dream sequences . . . which might make things a wee bit confusing if you weren't expecting them. There are many detailed reviews here (some, sadly, with "spoilers"), so I shall be brief.This film is based on a 1957 Russian short story ("Ivan") by Vladimir Bogomolov, who was born in 1926 and joined the Russian army as a young teenager at the start of World War II. The film is set in World War II where the German army has invaded Russia. The film tells the story of Ivan, a twelve-year-old boy whose entire family has been murdered by the Germans. He now works for the army on the front lines, delivering messages and running dangerous recon missions. Ivan resists all efforts to send him to safety; he is intent on avenging his family by helping the army kill Germans. Ivan's childhood has been completely obliterated by war; he is a boy no more.