Film studio "Mosfilm", 1962. 92 min. Fully restored. Language: Russian. Directed by A. Tarkovsky. Starring: Kolya Burlyaev, V. Zubkov, E. Zharikov, N. Grinko, V. Malyavina, I. Tarkovskaya and others.The film tells the story of an orphan boy named Ivan and his childhood during World War II. His family was killed by German soldiers. He escapes and is adopted by a unit of the Soviet army on the Eastern front. He is adamant about fighting on the front line, and, taking advantage of his small size, is able to perform reconnaissance missions that require him to cross the front line. "Ivan's Childhood" was one of several Soviet films of the late 1950's, such as "The Cranes Are Flying" and "Ballad of a Soldier", that looked at the human cost of war and did not glorify it as did films produced before the Khrushchev Thaw.
