Ballada o soldate = Ballad of a soldier

A naive and unworldly Soviet soldier commits a reluctant act of bravery during World War II. In return he is awarded four days of coveted leave, returning to his mother in order to thatch her roof. En route, the generous teenager uses much of his precious time helping strangers in need. Encountering chaos and destitution, he witnesses the stoicism of the Russian people as they face misery, hunger and displacement. On the train home he meets a woman with whom he falls in love but his fate is sealed — he barely makes it home to his mother, in time to return to the Front and most assuredly his death. A simple and sentimental drama, which documents the Russian wartime experience and winner of several international awards, ‘Ballad of a Soldier’ was the first Russian film to receive acclaim in America during the Cold War period.

Credits: Director, Grigori Chukhrai ; writer, Valentin Yoshov, Grigori Chukrai ; photography, Vladimir Nikolayev, Era Saveleva ; music, Mikhail Ziv ; editing, M. Timofeieva.
Cast: Vladimir Ivashov, Zhanna Prokhorenko, Antonina Maksimova, Nikolai Kryuchkov, Yevgeny Urbansky, Valentina Telegina.