MY NAME IS IVAN (IVANOVO DETSTVO) (aka THE YOUNGEST SPY) (1962) B/W 97m dir: Andrei Tarkovsky

w/Kolya Burlyayev, Valentin Zubkov, Ye. Zharikov, S. Krylov, Nikolai Grinko, D. Milyutenko, V. Malyavina, I. Tarkovskaya, Andrei Konchalovsky, Ivan Savkin

From The Movie Guide: "The first feature from Soviet director Andrei Tarkovsky, an intense cinematic poem about war and childhood, presents the most horrific account of war's ravaging effect on a child's innocence since Roberto Rossellini's GERMANY, YEAR ZERO. Like Rossellini's Edmund, Tarkovsky's Ivan (Kolya Burlyayev) is a 12-year-old man/boy who has known little else but war --- war that has forced him to become an adult and (in the irony of the actual translated title) robbed him of his childhood. ... Much more than a war film about a young boy, MY NAME IS IVAN is a pure film experience. Tarkovsky fills the frame with beautiful images composed in extreme high, low, or tilted angles; uses an unpredictable editing style that alternates between rapid, jarring cuts and carefully composed long takes; employs a stark black-and-white contrast, which often turns natural scenery into abstract imagery; and constructs a soundtrack that is as inventive as his visuals. Complementing Tarkovsky's vision is the performance of Burlyayev, whose face expresses both determination and tenderness. Highly praised upon its release --- it won awards at the Venice Film Festival for Best Film, Director, and Actor --- MY NAME IS IVAN has found a new audience with the rising international recognition of Tarkovsky."