1961 ‘Каток и скрипка’ Directed by Andrei Tarkovsky
Seven year old Sasha practices violin every day to satisfy the ambition of his parents. Already withdrawn as a result of his routines, Sasha quickly regains confidence when he accidentally meets and befriends worker Sergei, who works on a steamroller in their upscale Moscow neighborhood.
Katok i Skripka, De Stoomwals en de Viool, O Rolo Compressor e o Violinista, 증기기관차와 바이올린, 증기 기관차와 바이올린, 压路机和小提琴, 小提琴与压路机, Buxarlı Gəmi və Kamança, Die Straßenwalze und die Geige, El violín y la apisonadora, Höyryjyrä ja viulu, Le Rouleau compresseur et le Violon, Az én nagy barátom, Il rullo compressore e il violino, ローラーとバイオリン, Mały marzyciel, O Rolo Compressor e o Violino
Russian Federation0+
USAPG
Russian Federation
USA
This was Tarkovsky's student film?
If I was the professor, I would swap our desks and demand that motherfucker educate ME.
I’d never seen a single Tarkovsky film until today. I kicked off my Tarkovsky filmography marathon with his directorial debut, The Steamroller and the Violin. And, uh, yeah, hot take here, the rumors are true people, he’s good...
The film’s only 45 minutes or so but what it accomplishes in that time clearly already shows the beginnings of one of the all time acclaimed filmmakers. Even for a short student film, the cinematography is breathtaking. It creates an almost otherworldly atmosphere from the streets and tight alleyways of Moscow. Reflection shots are common: from shattered glass distorting perception to a puddle on the ground beaming the sun right at the camera.
I couldn’t help but think about how these reflections were…
Short and sweet, The Steamroller and the Violin is a touching little film about friendship by the masterful Andrei Tarkovsky. Despite being a student film, Tarkovsky's vision is clear, even if the film is little like his later works. Within The Steamroller and the Violin, Tarkovsky find beauty in music, in puddles, in conversation. He even manages to find beauty in dilapidated buildings being demolished. During the final act, the two leads cannot meet up and this simple trivial inaction feels like a tragedy. For all its slight nature and simple storytelling, The Steamroller and the Violin is ultimately very moving and hence worth commending. It seems that from the earliest days, Andrei Tarkovsky possessed cinematic skills so few ever had.
Side…
Maybe it’s because I grew up watching too much early Letterman, but I kept eagerly awaiting the scene in which the steamroller crushes the violin.
A precocious music student befriends a worker, and the connection (and disconnection) between artists and workers is neatly depicted in Tarkovsky's student film. It is a film of yearning, of misunderstanding, and of a certain symbiosis that, at the same time, suggests a commonality between artist and worker. It's also a sweet tale of friendship, which I always like.
Каток и скрипка (pronounced Katok i skripka) is Andrei Tarkovsky's diploma piece and earned him the grade of 'excellent': the highest grade possible.
Yeah, no shit!
For a student film, this is spectacular. A simple tale of young boy Sasha and his newfound relationship with Sergei, driver of a giant Tonka toy. Brum brum.... oops, sorry. I forgot where I was for a minute there.
Tarkovsky's legacy in film is undisputed and as a future creator of some of cinema's greatest auteur achievements it's clear from watching this little gem that great things lay in his future. Clean dialogue, uncomplicated cinematography and a story with meaning, this is Andrei limbering up and stretching into his celluloid future with a film that was co-written by long-term collaborator Andrei Konchalovsky.
That film cover though. Eek.
Criterion Challenge 2021
35. Made in the Soviet Union
Film reviews in 22 sentences (or less)
Today: The Steamroller and the Violin
„All they needed was a friend… .“
(The Two Cineasts)
Hi everybody, oh man, it's hard to believe, that this short film is actually supposed to be Andrei Tarkovsky's thesis, many other directors could consider themselves lucky to create a comparable work only once in their career. An incredibly beautiful film, in which many topics can be recognized that play a central role in his later works. Water, reflections, aesthetic camera angles, light and shadow, he uses all of it, in this really touching film, in a masterly and light manner.
The film is a little reminiscent of The Red Balloon, which was released five years earlier…
All great artists must start some where, and the final student film from legendary Russian Director Andrei Tarkovsky is a solid early effort.
The roughly 45 minute film follows the story of Sasha who is a young violinist in Moscow. He gets picked on by kids in his neighborhood until one day he meets a steamroller driver named Sergei, who becomes a father figure in his life.
From my brief research on the film Tarkovsky was inspired to create this story based on the father son dynamic in the 1948 film 'Bicycle Thieves'. The Steamroller and the Violin captures the theme of being an artist compared to being apart of the labor force or proletariat. I can see how this…
A poignant short film from Andrei Tarkovsky that displays flashes of brilliance in the early days of his career. It features a cute as a button young lad with a latent gift for striking up a moving tune on his violin. His talent emerges when he befriends an unlikely man who is working with a steamroller just below his apartment, and the friendship blossoms amongst the bullying and torment of neighbourhood children. So many wonderful moments are vividly realised between the characters and some inspired camera technique is displayed in an early scene involving a mirror, where we spend a short moment gazing at small wonders through Sasha's eyes. 45 minutes that are well worth your time.
Imagine Tarkovsky's film teacher/s seeing this for the first time. They must have known someone truly special had just made their debut.
Though only a short featurette, you can easily spot the auteur's fingerprints all over The Steamroller and the Violin, from the dreamlike world created and striking cinematography to the recurring motif of water as it drips, flows and refracts light onto the faces of the actors.
Having seen all of his feature films, I really wasn't expecting a lot from this student short but the scene where Sasha plays his violin to Sergey inexplicably nearly moved me to tears. I guess there's a reason he stands untouched as my all time favourite filmmaker.
Amateur compared to the other Tarkovsky I've seen so far but it shows a lot of promise. Pretty sure the kid can't play the violin. I feel like the violin songs don't sync up with him playing.
