This will be significantly shorter than my Ivan post.
I think what was so striking was that it was a film about the war...but it wasn't about the war. It seemed to be more about the relationships that developed and deteriorated because of the war.
There seemed to be a lot of focus on dialogue between Alyosha and Shura, and to contrast that, perhaps because she knew everything about him, when he finally saw his mother he was mostly silent.
In the scene with Liza Pavlov, the boys are blowing bubbles. I found these could be representative of Liza's new situation, and Alyosha's arrival burst that "bubble" she'd formed in Pavlov's absence.
I found the raft a little too convenient, for the almost consistant realism of the movie (I mean, he even forgot about the soap! I was actually impressed that they would take into consideration that he'd forget about that).
There was a definite quest motif, and it was interesting how Alyosha kept moving from "hero" to "scum" depending on where he was throughout the film. I'm glad he got to see his mother...I was afraid that they were going to snatch that away, having them just miss each other. The ambiguous ending worked for this film, though I'd still like to know more. Alyosha was definitely a character I'd like to know more about.
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For me it is not very easy to determine whether this is designed to be a "realistic" movie or not. There is something eerily supernatural about his getting to visit home in this fashion and then stay there for only a few minutes--almost as if he's a ghost flitting back to offer a final farewell right after his earthly death (a very common occurrence in ballads). Which isn't to say that the film doesn't provide extremely realistic slices of life throughout. Like I say--I can't quite put my finger on it. But the fact that Alyosha can represent the "Russian soldier" makes one wonder if the story isn't more a meditation on the effect of the war in general rather than an effort to realistically depict one boy's return home.
Ooooh....I like that take!
Remember how the camera shot flips very strangely in a topsy-turvy sort of way when solitary Alyosha is being trailed by a German tank? It's a dead certainty he will be killed, but then all of a sudden... Part of me can't help but wonder whether the film enters a strange hypothetical universe from that point on...
You know, I noted the camera angling for that part and figured it had to have some significance (apparently it didn't make it from my notes onto the post, haha). That most definitely would make sense, because you're right, it's almost dreamlike
I agree with many of your views on the movie. Instead of being a movie
just about battles, Ballad of a Soldier does focus more on the relationships effected and destroyed by the war. This makes the movie much more emotional to the average civilian audience. Ballad of a Soldier also reflects the artistic freedom of the Soviet Union during this period. (1959) This is why the movie greatly differs from earlier war movies made in the Soviet Union.
In reaction to your comment about the convenient raft.. When I saw that scene I was like wow, way to save some time and money, I didn't know rafts fell from the sky :]
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