The Steamroller and the Violin (1961) - [8/10]
This is Andrei Tarkovsky's film school diploma awarding short. This film is vastly important. Important because it is the reason we have the seven feature films Tarkovsky made before his untimely passing in 1986. Without The Steamroller and the Violin (1961), Tarkovsky would have never found future work. He would be lost. Lost in his own Voyage in Time (1983). This film is overlooked. I think it's one of the finest short films (as well as student films) I've seen. Everything about it screams potential. Potential on all fronts, but especially from Tarkovsky. Although it runs at only 46 minutes, each minute features Tarkovsky finding his style. From experimentation with mirrors to beautiful reflections, each shot is gorgeous. Each line of dialogue has a purpose - it isn't expositional, but realistic. And the story is remarkable - it shouldn't work but it does. With all these things and more, Tarkovsky strongly believes that cinema is an important art form and The Steamroller and the Violin (1961) stands as a testament to just that. Tarkovsky started out extremely ambitious with this short. He challenged his fellow students, doubling the length of their other diploma films, and even tried to hire an award winning cinematographer (Sergei Urusevsky) to work on it. The goal of this short wasn't to earn his diploma (well part of it was), but to become a valuable member of the Soviet film industry. And that he did. After this film, he was able to make his first feature film, Ivan's Childhood (1962). There's a lot of "good" in this film, but it isn't perfect. Much like Tarkovsky's own style, he is only just developing and the film reflects that. The staging of each shot is amazing. Characters stand, move, and drive steamrollers across the screen like it is a ballet. All the while, the camera is the ballet master. It moves with the characters, against the characters, and watches the characters. One of the best parts of this film is the cinematography because of this character-camera relationship. The cinematography also reflects Tarkovsky's own artistic style. At this point it was only just developing - his long, unbroken takes, mirror shots, rain symbolism, unique angles, and daydreaming sequences - but it is amazing to see this developing style in action. The camera and cinematography really becomes another character in this film and it works. It works really well. The only imperfections I found in the cinematography were when I could see the shadow of the camera, and even that is hardly noticeable. The other best part about this film is its story. Andrei Tarkovsky, Andrey Konchalovskiy, and S. Bakhmetyeva collaborated to write this film. The story is so tight. Everything is wrote with such complexity. There is vast symbolism and other artistic devices in each line of dialogue. Yet at the same time, each line feels completely realistic. There aren't many lines of dialogue in this film (Tarkovsky was a minimalist filmmaker, only using dialogue when he absolutely had to. He would use it to propel the plot forward and give important information but otherwise, he would use the "show don't tell" concept religiously.) but each line of dialogue has meaning (and the absence of of dialogue has meaning as well). Meaning not because the audience has given meaning to the film and have tried to find symbolism, foreshadowing, etc. but because Tarkovsky made it with meaning; he made it as art. The story shouldn't work. A film about a seven year old boy and an adult steamroller's growing friendship is not your typical story. I think if this hadn't been a student film, it would never have been made. Kids are supposed to stay away from strangers, especially adult strangers, but in this film the two become friends. Stranger and child. It sounds very unorthodox on paper, but on film it is beautiful. Tarkovsky juxtaposes violin to steamroller, youth to age, and poor to "rich". He spearheads the message that friends come in strange places, and that two things that seem to oppose each other often need each other to live their lives in harmony. I wish this film was longer because it felt incomplete. It wrapped up rather quickly and I wanted to see even more from our complex characters (Sasha and Sergei). There was also one sequence that wasn't executed too well. There were tons of continuity errors and fast cutting (something Tarkovsky grew to especially dislike). I was actually taken aback by that sequence. It makes complete sense when you think about the sequence afterwards, but it feels out of place altogether. This film was the birthplace of one of the greatest auteurs in film history. The Steamroller and the Violin (1961) is an excellent place to start when trying to figure out Tarkovsky's beginnings, style, and love for cinema. It isn't perfect, but it has traces of perfection layered throughout its 46 minute runtime. Perfection that will be mastered and improved upon in later films. It is brilliant to witness Tarkovsky develop his own style throughout the course of this film and a great place to start for the Andrei Tarkovsky Appreciation Event.
This is Andrei Tarkovsky's film school diploma awarding short. This film is vastly important. Important because it is the reason we have the seven feature films Tarkovsky made before his untimely passing in 1986. Without The Steamroller and the Violin (1961), Tarkovsky would have never found future work. He would be lost. Lost in his own Voyage in Time (1983). This film is overlooked. I think it's one of the finest short films (as well as student films) I've seen. Everything about it screams potential. Potential on all fronts, but especially from Tarkovsky. Although it runs at only 46 minutes, each minute features Tarkovsky finding his style. From experimentation with mirrors to beautiful reflections, each shot is gorgeous. Each line of dialogue has a purpose - it isn't expositional, but realistic. And the story is remarkable - it shouldn't work but it does. With all these things and more, Tarkovsky strongly believes that cinema is an important art form and The Steamroller and the Violin (1961) stands as a testament to just that. Tarkovsky started out extremely ambitious with this short. He challenged his fellow students, doubling the length of their other diploma films, and even tried to hire an award winning cinematographer (Sergei Urusevsky) to work on it. The goal of this short wasn't to earn his diploma (well part of it was), but to become a valuable member of the Soviet film industry. And that he did. After this film, he was able to make his first feature film, Ivan's Childhood (1962). There's a lot of "good" in this film, but it isn't perfect. Much like Tarkovsky's own style, he is only just developing and the film reflects that. The staging of each shot is amazing. Characters stand, move, and drive steamrollers across the screen like it is a ballet. All the while, the camera is the ballet master. It moves with the characters, against the characters, and watches the characters. One of the best parts of this film is the cinematography because of this character-camera relationship. The cinematography also reflects Tarkovsky's own artistic style. At this point it was only just developing - his long, unbroken takes, mirror shots, rain symbolism, unique angles, and daydreaming sequences - but it is amazing to see this developing style in action. The camera and cinematography really becomes another character in this film and it works. It works really well. The only imperfections I found in the cinematography were when I could see the shadow of the camera, and even that is hardly noticeable. The other best part about this film is its story. Andrei Tarkovsky, Andrey Konchalovskiy, and S. Bakhmetyeva collaborated to write this film. The story is so tight. Everything is wrote with such complexity. There is vast symbolism and other artistic devices in each line of dialogue. Yet at the same time, each line feels completely realistic. There aren't many lines of dialogue in this film (Tarkovsky was a minimalist filmmaker, only using dialogue when he absolutely had to. He would use it to propel the plot forward and give important information but otherwise, he would use the "show don't tell" concept religiously.) but each line of dialogue has meaning (and the absence of of dialogue has meaning as well). Meaning not because the audience has given meaning to the film and have tried to find symbolism, foreshadowing, etc. but because Tarkovsky made it with meaning; he made it as art. The story shouldn't work. A film about a seven year old boy and an adult steamroller's growing friendship is not your typical story. I think if this hadn't been a student film, it would never have been made. Kids are supposed to stay away from strangers, especially adult strangers, but in this film the two become friends. Stranger and child. It sounds very unorthodox on paper, but on film it is beautiful. Tarkovsky juxtaposes violin to steamroller, youth to age, and poor to "rich". He spearheads the message that friends come in strange places, and that two things that seem to oppose each other often need each other to live their lives in harmony. I wish this film was longer because it felt incomplete. It wrapped up rather quickly and I wanted to see even more from our complex characters (Sasha and Sergei). There was also one sequence that wasn't executed too well. There were tons of continuity errors and fast cutting (something Tarkovsky grew to especially dislike). I was actually taken aback by that sequence. It makes complete sense when you think about the sequence afterwards, but it feels out of place altogether. This film was the birthplace of one of the greatest auteurs in film history. The Steamroller and the Violin (1961) is an excellent place to start when trying to figure out Tarkovsky's beginnings, style, and love for cinema. It isn't perfect, but it has traces of perfection layered throughout its 46 minute runtime. Perfection that will be mastered and improved upon in later films. It is brilliant to witness Tarkovsky develop his own style throughout the course of this film and a great place to start for the Andrei Tarkovsky Appreciation Event.