Ballad of a Soldier (1959)

I thought The Ballad of a Soldier was a very good movie. I enjoyed how different it was from other war films because instead of focusing on the war/fighting, it focused on one individual soldier. This allows you to realize that soldiers aren't just mindless violent people, they acutally have homes, families, and feelings. I feel like the message that this movie is trying to explore is that wars are fought by individuals and that they are sacrificing things to fight for a cause which is something their families experience too. One thing that is prevalent in both this film and the realist films is the romantic relationship.


Moreover, there were many aspects of this film that i enjoyed. First, I loved how helpful and polite Alyosha was in this movie. It kind of showed how different things used to be, and how trusting people used to be. I know now not many people can say they would trust another person to carry their luggage around with them and not steal it. It was refreshing to see that Alyosha would give up things for himself to help others. This was even shown when he lied to the soldiers grandfather about how well his son was doing when he didn't know him at all. Second- although that was getting kind of irritating when he was wasting his time doing this for others when he had to get home to help his mother with the roof. He was taking WAY to much on his shoulders and it just wasn't possible to get it all done. Third, i love how the actor's faces look throughout the film. In particular, I remember one close-up of Shura sleeping while waiting for Alyosha and there was just the right amount of light on her face where it looked so perfect-almost airbrushed. Moreover, when Alyosha saved everyone from the train- the way it was filmed was pretty cool. The way the scene was filmed it was like all we could see was Alyosha shadow with the flames in the back round as he carried people out. This can allow me to believe that a hero is faceless- meaning Alyosha isn't doing it for fame he did it to help. Furthemore, it can show us that anyone can be a hero. Also, in this scene Alyosha is sitting on the ground after saving everyone and one man walks by and says that hes useless and to get out of the way. This kind of reminded me about how when men would come back from war they were temporary heroes and then everyone forgot about them. Finally, i thought it was interesting how the entire town was excited to see Alyosha come home and they all wanted to know how their family members were doing. It was like-for the most part- people gave up on those who went to war-and they simply gave up when they left. Alyosha mom even said she gave up on his father when he left. Thats disturbing to hear because these people were fighting for everyone and their girlfriends/wives were very selfish in giving up on them so easily.


I feel like Alyosha's story is more than just a single Russian soldier because every single one of them wanted to go home and see their family. What he experienced was something they all wanted to do except Alyosha is the only one who got the chance. I think it was significant that Alyosha saved people from the burning train because his heroism from the war was kind of a fluke but he pulled through when he needed to show he was brave and a real hero. The only thing i didn't like about this film was the lack of a proper ending. I would love to have known what happened with Alyosha and whether he was one of the few that made it home. All in all, this movie was very good and showed up a different aspect of war that a lot of us don't get to experience.