Independent Films, Film Profiles

Ballad of a Soldier
by Grigori Chukhrai

Ballad of a Soldier, (Russian: Баллада о солдате, Ballada o soldate) is a 1959 Soviet film directed by Grigori Chukhrai and starring Vladimir Ivashov and Zhanna Prokhorenko. The film is set during World War II and shows how the Russian soldier Alyosha tries to make it home during a leave, meeting several civilians on his way and falling in love with Shura. The film was produced at Mosfilm and won several awards, including the BAFTA Award for Best Film from any Source and was nominated for the Academy Award for Writing Original Screenplay.Ballad of a Soldier is not primarily a war film: it recounts, within the context of the turmoil of war, various kinds of love: the romantic love of a young couple, the committed love of a married couple, and a mother's love of her child. The film tells the story of the young soldier Alexei Nikolaevich Skvortsov (Vladimir Ivashov) making his way through the countryside during the first few months of the war at a time when the Soviet Union seemed destined to fall to the powerful Nazi onslaught. Awarded a six-day leave pass for destroying two German tanks, Alyosha makes his way home to visit his mother and to repair the roof of her home. During his journey he encounters the devastation the war has brought on the country and meets numerous people and gives them hope by virtue of his likeable and positive character. Riding in the baggage car of a train he meets Shura (Zhanna Prokhorenko) and falls in love with her. As he had spent precious time on running errands for his fellow soldiers from the front, he arrives at his home only to see his mother for just a minute. He returns to the front but, as told via voiceover, never returns from the war.