"Ivan's childhood" was Tarkovsky's debut. It may be a rather conventional movie in his whole oeuvre, but the beginning of typical Tarkovsky feautures are already visible. There is stil a difference between dreamsequences and reality, but the dreamsequences are already there. The interpretation of these dreamsequences is rather subjective but some of them are stunningly beautiful. I think above all about the scene where a carriage full of apples keep losing them on the beach and horses are eating the fallen apples.
In the Soviet Union films about the Second World War were popular. Initially the films were about Soviet heroes against Nazi monsters. In the Chroetrsjov period, war films became somewhat more nuanced and varied. The most famous exemple of this is without any doubt "The cranes are flying" (1957, Mikhail Kalatozov). "Ivan's childhood" is a (somewhat lesser known) example of this period of relative creative freedom in Soviet filmmaking. In this film the main character is not an adult Soviet soldier but a boy scout penetrating in enemy territory. In this respect it resembles "Come and see" (1985, Elem Klimov), also about the influence of war on a child. In comparison with this film "Ivan's childhood" has less violence and is a lot more philosophical.
Another typical Tarkovsky element already visible in "Ivan's childhood" is the importance of the landscape for the mood of the film. The swamp seems to anticipate on the zone in "Stalker" (1979, Andrei Tarkovsky). The birch forrest on the other hand may be well inspired by "Letter never sent" (1960, Mikhail Kalatozov). In fact Tarkovsky tried to hire the cinematographer of this film (Sergey Urusevsky) for "Ivan's childhood". He dit not succeed, but the performance of Vadim Yusov (the cinematographer who did shoot the film) is worth of the highest praise.
In the Soviet Union films about the Second World War were popular. Initially the films were about Soviet heroes against Nazi monsters. In the Chroetrsjov period, war films became somewhat more nuanced and varied. The most famous exemple of this is without any doubt "The cranes are flying" (1957, Mikhail Kalatozov). "Ivan's childhood" is a (somewhat lesser known) example of this period of relative creative freedom in Soviet filmmaking. In this film the main character is not an adult Soviet soldier but a boy scout penetrating in enemy territory. In this respect it resembles "Come and see" (1985, Elem Klimov), also about the influence of war on a child. In comparison with this film "Ivan's childhood" has less violence and is a lot more philosophical.
Another typical Tarkovsky element already visible in "Ivan's childhood" is the importance of the landscape for the mood of the film. The swamp seems to anticipate on the zone in "Stalker" (1979, Andrei Tarkovsky). The birch forrest on the other hand may be well inspired by "Letter never sent" (1960, Mikhail Kalatozov). In fact Tarkovsky tried to hire the cinematographer of this film (Sergey Urusevsky) for "Ivan's childhood". He dit not succeed, but the performance of Vadim Yusov (the cinematographer who did shoot the film) is worth of the highest praise.