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.

The Fireman

I finished reading The Fireman by Joe Hill. It's a novel about a world plagued by an infectious disease nicknamed "Dragonscale" that manifests itself as intricate, tattoo-like designs on the hosts skin, which might be nice, except that sooner or later it causes the host to ignite and burn to death. Soon civilization collapses, with survivors either infected or terrified of infection. Cheery, school nurse Harper is infected, and is also pregnant. Realising that the baby may be born uninfected, she is determined to survive until it is born. As she avoids roaming bands of vigilantes murdering those infected, her only hope of survival is The Fireman, who has learned the secret of harnessing and controlling Dragonscale. It's a long book, 752 pages, but very good and very powerful.

I went out and got a couple of Blu-rays: Our Little Sister and Ivan's Childhood (which finally completes the Andrei Tarkovsky collection that I started in 2003). Unfortunately the store is closing down at the end of the month for relocation. I asked, but they don't know where they're going yet.