Ballad Of A Soldier

A young soldier (Ivashov) fighting on the front during WWII heroically disables two German tanks and is rewarded with a six-day leave. As he makes the long journey home to see his mother (Maximova) he meets a variety of people, both friendly and antagonistic, who need his help. Though he finally makes it to his mother's door, he never gets to spend his leave quite as he intended before having to return to almost certain death at the front.

This startlingly realistic and lovingly detailed picture transcends its dramatic premise to embody on several levels the tale of all the Soviet people. An episodic and visually haunting film with modest but never overdone touc...