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ivan's childhood/my name is ivan/etc [Aug. 28th, 2006|11:17 pm]
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Someone on a board of which I am a member distinguished between directors he likes and directors that he respects (although certainly a director could be in both categories). Tarkovsky is one I respect, although I don’t particularly care for his films, save for solaris, which I consider a masterpiece. Interestingly enough, solaris is probably tarkovsky’s most accessible film, and yet it was the film he was least proud of. I would say Solaris is like, to make a simple synopsis, 2001 meets vertigo. Im tempted to write more about solaris, but I digress.

Ivan’s Childhood has its moments, but for the most part I didn’t particularly like it. Nonetheless, I respect it, and considering when it was made, it is better than many films from its era. Does it really matter? 30 years from now, people will probably say the same things about films today, that they are dated, etc. I will say that the sequence involving the final mission of ivan is well done, but for the most part, I didn’t really like much else. Actually, I think it would have been more interesting if he expanded on the character of masha and her relationship with the soldiers. Anyway, this is, after all, his first feature, and he certainly evolved in his career.

I only have one more feature of tarkovsky to check out: sacrifice (of which will probably be the next thing I write about).

If you do a quick search on the net asking for a synopsis of this film, it’s basically the same article. Kinda funny. Like no one else had an opinion on the film. Or was too lazy to write something.
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Comments:
From: (Anonymous)
2006-09-26 02:56 am (UTC)

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this is actually my favorite tarkovsky film… most accessible to understand for me. my fave moment is when the solder and masha are in the forest and the choregraphy of the camera work is just wonderful with the trees being a strong graphic image.

one thing about tarkovsky’s films is that the camera work is simply brilliant, maybe the story and themes are really abstract and difficult to deceipher, but the camera work is quite a thrill and technically bold, especially when he employs moving long takes.

thanks for visiting his work, which is a good reminder for me to revisit his stuff since i’m more in the frame of mind to understand, and possibly a little maturer to accept it.
From: [info]anonom
2006-09-27 03:21 am (UTC)

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yeah, that seen with masha and the soldier is great. i wish they focused more on their relationships. that's what i like the most in this film, now that i think about it.

for me, this is his second most accessible film; solaris is tops on my list.