Daily Movie Rec 3/13/24

The Steamroller and the Violin (1961)

"It must be scary to be in a war."

Directed by: Andrei Tarkovsky

Cinematography by: Vadim Yusov

Country: Soviet Union

Genre: Drama

Plot:

Seven-year-old musician Sasha is bullied by his peers but finds a fast friend in a steamroller driver named Sergey.

Reasons to watch:

Tarkovsky submitted The Steamroller and the Violin as his thesis project for film school, and the featurette's lightly fantastical atmosphere displays the poetry and metaphysical imagery that would dominate the Russian master's future work - the magic spark of a filmmaker who would be one of the greatest the world has ever seen by the time of his untimely death two and a half decades later. In classic Soviet fashion, the film celebrates both the artist and the laborer. As the upright worker bonds with the prodigious young musician, the sheepish youngster is emboldened by the worker's toughness, and the worker shows he has a sensitive, cultured side by taking the child under his wing, appreciating and finding comfort in the beauty of his music - the arts and labor in harmony, both honing the instruments of their craft side-by-side.

Where to watch:

The Criterion Channel