Review of Ballad of a Soldier (1959) by Jens T — 26 Nov 2011

Grigori Chukhrai's Ballad of a Soldier is a story set in Russia, during world war II about the nineteen-year-old soldier Alyosha who's after blowing up two german tanks is being rewarded with four days leave to visit his beloved mother. On his way he stumble upon many different people with different looks, past and futures. Our hero is polite to all of them, and tries to help all with their problems, some times he uses so much times helping others that he evens forget himself. He also meets the beautiful young Shura who's also on a quest to find her relatives.

Ballad of a Soldier is a perfect road movie, where we see much of all the society and the different classes for what they are. It's one of those movies that just warm your heart, and that is very rear to find. It's almost like a Christmas holiday movie, with the kind James Stewart character thinks of every one but himself. But Ballad of a Soldiers even becomes stronger when we know that our hero is going to die. A marvelous picture. Thumbs up.