Very accessible by Tarkovsky standards. Strong acting, catching story, and some very simple and strong cinematic effects. The ending is so well done.
So many symbols, such a well created atmosphere, the film never really settles, but always remains floating in a corner of my mind.

The film stars a young boy named Ivan who has been ripped of all kinds of innocence that one might find in a child his age. Ivan works with the army, helping them with taking out dangerous and suicidal missions. The film is loaded with symbols and metaphors with an overall mood of sadness yet; one might find it very poetic.

In watching Ivanovo Detstvo, one finds himself somehow indulged in the content of the film without a logical reason, sometimes not understanding what’s going on at all. I personally found the overall story disturbing and yet, it cannot be considered just another war film. You can definitely feel there’s a lot lying beneath that. Ivan’s own personality is a mystery that doesn’t unfold throughout the film. You find yourself witnessing a child who has taken a path that is not meant for children without ever knowing why.

Poor Ivan never gets anything...it's always Masha, Masha, Masha!

This is one of those rare films, and by no means am I saying this is a bad movie-quite the opposite, that I almost wish I could stop the motion of the picture. Meaning, take each individual scene like a painting and hang them up in a museum next to each other and just study them for awhile to truly grasp the beauty of what I just witnessed-each scene felt like a meticulously crafted charcoal still....