Ivan's Childhood

Last night I saw the movie Ivan's Childhood, directed by Andrei Tarkovsky. It's set on the Eastern Front during World War II and tells the story of 12 year old Ivan who is a scout for the Russian Army and, due to his small size, finds it easy to slip back and forth over enemy lines. However, his commanders grow fond of him and decide to send him to Military School, out of harm's way. Ivan, however, does not want to go, because he wants revenge on the Nazis for the deaths of his parents. It's a war movie, with very little actual combat shown. It's slow and very dark. However it's very powerful and sometimes very beautiful.

It was a pretty busy day at work today. I listened to How Did This Get Made? which was discussing the 1995 superhero movie The Phantom. I also heard Just a Story, about creepy urban legends associated with circuses, fairs and carnivals.