Ivan's Childhood

1962 ‘Иваново детство’ Directed by Andrei Tarkovsky

During World War II, 12-year old Ivan works as a spy on the eastern front. The small Ivan can cross the German lines unnoticed to collect information. Three Soviet officers try to take care of this boy-child.

Nikolay Burlyaev Valentin Zubkov Nikolay Grinko Yevgeni Zharikov Valentina Malyavina Irma Raush Stepan Krylov Dmitri Milyutenko Andrei Konchalovsky

Alternative Titles

La infancia de Iván, De jeugd van Ivan, L'enfance d'Ivan, Ivanovo detstvo, A Infância de Ivan, Iwans Kindheit, 伊凡的少年时代, Ivanovo detstvi, Ivans barndom, Ivani lapsepõlv, Ei paluuta, Ivanes bavshvoba, Ta paidika hronia tou Ivan, Τα παιδικά χρόνια του Ιβάν, Iván gyermekkora, L'infanzia di Ivan, 이반의 어린 시절, De jeugd van Iwan, Dziecko wojny, Copilaria lui Ivan, Ivanovo detinjstvo, Ivanovo Detstvo, Ivanovo otrostvo, Ivan'in çocuklugu, My Name Is Ivan, La infancia de Ivan

drama war

95 mins More details at IMDb TMDb Report this film

Popular reviews

Review by davidehrlich ★★★★½ 1

impressions of war. Tarkovsky's first tinkerings with time... florid, free-floating psychological imprints serving to underscore the banality of real-world war. 4 dreams bound by 1 nightmare. formative work from a hired gun, but masha hanging above the trenches and the well to the stars point towards a career that would ascend to worlds unknown.
can't imagine it's a happy accident that Criterion is re-releasing this and THE TIN DRUM in the same month. echoes abound.
Review by Rembrandt Q Pumpernickel ★★★★★ 7

Ineffable.
In my opinion, it's one of those great words that sounds like its own meaning. You call something "ineffable," and I feel like English speakers, even if they don't know the word, have a sense of what you mean. What's even more impressive is that the word means beyond words in a way. It's a word that exists to tell us that some things exist that there are no words for. Not every picture is a thousand words. Some are only a sentence or two. Some are a couple pages. And some...well, they're ineffable.
There's very little that compares (for me) to the endorphins released into my brain, when I figure something out. I loved puzzles as a child,…
Review by Dirk Diggler ★★★★★ 17

A devastating, poetic and stunning depiction of war. There are no battle scenes, all we experience is the consequences of war: one moment Ivan is taking or making commands and works like a soldier, the next he's dreaming of his childhood with his mother. Its a very simple film, but there's such a strength and power underneath because of the direction, cinematography and its atmosphere. The shot of Ivan sleeping with the camera sweeping away and looking up the well, where Ivan and his mother are standing, was one of the most beautiful dream transitions i've seen. But there are endless beautiful and haunting moments in this film, especially the low-angle kiss shot, Ivan becoming the ghost of a Nazi,…
Review by Cormac 👑 ★★★★★ 5

From time to time mid-watch of a film, my heart will race and hands start to sweat as I get the inkling it has the potential to become an all-time favourite.
However, this hasn't happened for a while. Recently, I've really struggled to enjoy the medium at all, finding it almost impossible to engage or maintain interest regardless of what I was putting on. Naturally, this has left me in a rut of frustration, unable to gain any pleasure from something I hold so close to my heart, an interest I'd go so far as to define myself with. It's an incredibly numbing feeling.
The love for film has never left; I've still wanted to watch as much as humanely…
Review by Darren Carver-Balsiger ★★★★★ 10

Ivan's Childhood is a lyrical war movie, an emotional, poetic experience. It's about childhood and war, two aspects of life far apart but flung together in this world. It is not the most sophisticated Andrei Tarkovsky movie, nor the most moving or artistic, but it has an elegant simplicity to it. Ivan's Childhood is about nature and innocence, surrounded by the stink of war.
Ivan is a child of war, having had to live a difficult life and grow up quick. As a child though, this world overwhelms him and he doesn't quite understand it. Ivan is convinced he has to fight, he thinks everyone should, and this seems to be his way to cope with trauma. He wants revenge, to…
Review by Sam “H” ★★★★

BRUV REAL SHIT AT 12 YEARS OLD IF YOU DIDN'T ESCAPE BACK TO RUSSIA FROM A GERMAN PRISON CAMP AND AVOID MILITARY SCHOOL IN EXCHANGE FOR USING YOUR SKILL SET TO SPY ON THE NAZIS IN HOPES OF AVENGING THE DEATH OF YOUR FAMILY THEN YOU STRAIGHT UP HAD NO CHILDHOOD

Recent reviews

Review by sandro 👁👁 ★★★½

i can't lie, my mind wandered too many times to blame it fully on myself. astonishingly beautiful imagery with so much emotion directly behind it. though, it really didn't captivate me as much as those moments did in the overall runtime.
Review by Gavin Beaupre ★★★★

Really beautiful film with some great performances and brilliant cinematography, I feel like there’s something I’m missing out of it though. I’m probably over thinking it but it feels like there’s a deeper meaning beyond the obvious one.
Review by greatbigfatguy ★★★★½

a war movie that doesn't shy away from what victory, vengeance, and heroism truly cost. an all-timer performance from young Nikolai Burlyayev, who out-acts all the adults around him and really sells the films darkest and dreamiest moments.
Review by PG Schaeffer ★★★½

About to watch Tarkovsky's entire filmography
And this was a pretty good start, just the dream/memory scenes makes me want to watch more of him, love how they're shot, the camera movements and especially some transitions between scenes -the scene where Ivan is "playing" of spying is low key incredible-
Btw Nikolay Burlyaev's performance as Ivan is absolutely phenomenal, I enjoyed most of the scenes he was into, unfortunately, the movie goes on some subplots without him that I thought was a bit off the rest of the story
From what I searched tho, this one was the only Tarkovsky film that he didn't write, so pretty excited to what comes next
Review by Cameron ★★★★½

This is a really good movie!! Some of the best locations and cinematography and its was made 60 years ago!!
Review by IsabellePeach ★★★★

Tarkovsky is such a poetic, poignant director. What an impressive debut!
Review by Samuel ★★★½

Idk, I just didn't connect with this film that much. It's well made and all, just not for me. Enjoyed Solaris on a much higher level. Still excited to check out Tarkovsky's other work.
Review by Braden ★★★½

7.3/10
Too much of this focuses on subplots that don't go anywhere, but when it focuses on Ivan, it's amazing. Burlyaev was a really good child actor. I predicted the ending but this was still a very sad, heartfelt, and truthful look at war.
Andrei Tarkovsky Ranked
Review by Jack ★★★★ 2

A war is no place for children.
A great starting point for Tarkovsky's filmography. You can see how he made his first full length feature right beneath our eyes.