Steamroller and the Violin

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Raphael G @raphagimenes 09/25/2023 Such beautiful photography and colors. See more 05/24/2021 This was my first dip into the pool of Tarkovsky cinema, one of the most talked about filmmakers of his time. I watched this after Red Balloon and found eerie similarities, thematically and visually. A boys innocence is impeded upon by bullies who want to disrupt his pleasure, a violin, all for the sake of their small economy. Substitute the violin with a balloon, and you have the premise for both stories. Add that both the steamroller and the balloon are red, and you have a visual parallel. Both are masterfully filmed, with Steamroller being the most excelled cinematography. I think I was a bit more emotionally invested in Red Balloon, whereas Steamroller and Violin was more eye-catching. Both efforts are worth their place in the history of great shorts. See more 11/09/2019 A proper diploma work, which hints at a big artist emerging. There is some quite peculiar footage of post-war Moscow being constructed. See more 10/03/2018 Andrei's graduation project shows early signs of what's to come from one of cinema's masters. It has a lot of his trademarks spreaded throughout it's short runtime and discovering these make it even more fun to watch. Knowing a little bit about Andrei's background also adds an additional layer to the movie. See more 12/10/2016 Andrei Tarkovsky's last short film before Ivan's Childhood does not explore his soul searching, poetically haunting, existentially metaphysical, and hypnotic memorization, but is a cerebral, emotional, and visceral tale of a troubled boy who finds a friend. See more 05/27/2015 This was Tarkovsky's student thesis film, clocking in at about 45 minutes and in the rather glorious color that films shined with at the time. A small boy learning the violin is teased by other bigger kids but finds a protector in a local worker who is operating a steamroller on a nearby building site. Their unlikely friendship plays out in a series of anecdotes culminating with an agreed upon plan to go to the movies - which the boy's mother subsequently prohibits. Somehow I kept expecting the violin to be smashed flat by the steamroller, but it didn't happen. That wouldn't be Tarkovsky's way, I'm sure, and instead he seems to be focusing on the relationship between workers and artists in the communist regime. Can't they be friends? Stalin rode roughshod over the arts bending them to his will but again Tarkovsky looks beyond that grudge to think more carefully about the role of art in a society and its contributions. The film contains dazzling poetic shots that must have led everyone to believe that this student would one day become a master filmmaker - and he did (Andrei Rublev, Solaris, The Mirror, Stalker, etc.). See more Read all reviews

Steamroller and the Violin

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