The Steamroller and the Violin 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 Already withdrawn as a result of his routines, Sasha quickly regains confidence when he accidentally meets and befriends worker Sergei, who works on a steamroller in their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
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…
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.
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…
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…
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.
Tarkovsky really made this, a wholesome look at childhood innocence, a year earlier than Ivan's Childhood, which is the complete opposite in every possible way. What the fuck happened to him in that year? However, for as sweet as this short is, the ending is a gut punch, which is strange, and impressive, considering how mundane and everyday the situations present in this film are. Tarkovsky was a master even as a student.
Can you believe that this was Andrei Tarkovsky's diploma film as a student of cinematography in Moscow? The Steamroller and the Violin is such a gentle and absorbing tale. At a short runtime of only 46 minutes, Tarkovsky constructs a heartwarming friendship between a young boy who learns to play the violin and a working-class operator who defends the boy against his bullying schoolmates.
There is no reason to expect anything as morally challenging or demanding as Tarkovsky's feature-length films, but this is an extremely solid and remarkable directorial debut from one of the most influential directors of all time.
JB's rating: 6/10
"Very cute."
Tarkovsky's student thesis film, a quotidian short feature about a young violinist and a day laborer.
Here he establishes his distinct sense of realism and sweeping themes just out of reach, experimenting with freewheling imagery as well (although this is still constructed with slow crawls).
It feels a bit like a lost episode of Decalogue in the spirit of its main relationship. As well as foreshadowing Ivan's Childhood, the paternal ideals in The Steamroller and the Violin also crop up later in Andrei Rublev.
More or less, it's a document of Tarkovsky's early ambition, but it's still entrancing, infused with the same density and overarching solemnity of all his work.
It is hard not to fall in love with a bond between a blue-collar worker and a spirited, yet lonely boy who comes from a wealthy family.
While it may be the most unfamiliar work of his (due to it being before his first feature debut), Tarkovsky finds elements of visual language that he would later go on to master and own.
This film gives us a glimpse of what life was like in Russia; particularly from the bottom and the so called ‘top’. The story is told quite poignantly, with joy and love for life.
The final shot remains in my heart.
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.
7/10
There's really not much to say about this film. It's a pretty solid short. The story is really simple, but it is great to see some great moments, many of which signified of what Tarkovsky would become. There were a number of impressive sequences, scenes, and shots. Definitely his weakest work, but nonetheless quite good.
Also, I've decided to substitute the word "God" with the word "Tarkvoksy" in any God-related exclamations (like "Oh my Tarkovsky!")
Added to:
Top 500 Greatest Films of All Time Ranking: 2018, First Time Watches
Ranking: 10th Grade (2017-18), First Time Watches
So fucking good. Absolutely blows the previous two out of the water. Similar budget and context of a student film but drenched in Big Andrei's directorial style. Lots of Tarkovsky's foundational elements coming in through here. The reflections, the long takes, the pans all so beautiful. Some of sequences are so aesthetically pretty and hypnotising; the mirrors at the start and the bulldozer are near perfection and put my tiny brain into a trance. Does a fantastic job of capturing childhood wonder and fear, perhaps the next film chronologically will relate to that in some way 🤔🤔🤔
Story itself is kind of meh and much more material then Tarkovsky's usual focus on spirituality. Oddly cute…
Playful and lighthearted both in form and tone. Kinda wish Tarkovsky made more films like this.
starting tarkovsky as well and well damn... this was his graduation project? 😭 it was one of the most endearing child-centric story I’ve ever seen. Shot with warmth and a kinetic style that instills this simple story of a fringe friendship with an infectious rhythm. That final dream sequence >>>> would be cool to learn if Florida project was influenced by this. I’m sure the rest of his films will be this adorable and tender, right? 👀 Right?
Pretty sure this premise would pass as a little creepy by today’s standards, but it’s still beautiful. The relationship between Sergei and the boy felt believable, like they truly needed each other. Refractions and texture (water streaks on the street) are incredible. Love the balloon and the wrecking ball. First film I’ve seen by Tarkovsky as I plan to go on a little binge.
My man Tarkovsky did more with wet pavement than most directors do with entire films.
A sweet and talented young boy spends the day with a strange, blue-collar man he'd just met without telling his mother, but in a not scary way.
I liked this a lot! It was cute and wholesome and visually interesting throughout! I believe this is considered to by Tarkovsky's directorial debut in some capacity, which just goes to highlight his seemingly natural fluency in the language of film. This guy is like the Mozart of movies. Actually kind of pisses me off a bit.
In 40 minutes Tarkovsky did more artistic value than Christopher Nolan during his whole career
Part 1 of my Tarkovsky filmography viewing
It’s stunning that a student film could feature such high-production value. Between all the talent - most of whom are children, multiple sets, and functioning power tools/steamroller, I’m in a little bit of awe.
The cinematography and blocking are all thorough and intentional, and include many deep shots with an active foreground and background. The camera feels nearly as dynamic and weightless as the violin tunes.
(Note: I’m judging the production value as a student film, which is absolutely stunning. Judged as a professional feature, it’s above average, but has many mistakes, like kids looking straight at the camera)
As for its theme, here’s my take: Regardless of something’s apparent beauty, it inevitably…
As another one of Tarkovsky’s student films, it would be easy to dismiss this as an outlier to his untouchable filmography, nothing more than an hour or experimental camera work and surface level themes. But The Steamroller and The Violin is unlike any other student featurette I have yet seen, full of genuine heart, subtle moments, dreamlike kaleidoscopic imagery, and overall excellent composition it is clear Tarkovsky held a complete mastery over the medium of film even early in his career. My favourite parts have to be the lingering shots of the subtle facial of the two leads and Tarkovsky’s commitment to shots of reflective surfaces and fractured glass to emphasise how different, yet envious Sergei and Sasha are of…
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