The Return

As I watched this movie I felt myself so interested in what was going to happen next. I really enjoyed this movie and when it first started out I had no idea the director was going to take it into the direction he did. I thought Ivan, the youngest of the boys was a cry baby as soon as he would not jump down into the water. Then when the father came around Ivan put all of the work on Andrei because he would not do it. Andrei had to carry everything and do all of the dirty work because Ivan would complain about it. When Ivan kept complaining about leaving the spot where the fish were biting I knew that the dad was going to give him a punishment. When he left him on the side of the road I really did not ever think he was going to come back. I really did not understand how Ivan had so much hatred for his father but then I could see him getting really upset when he watched him slap his brother. It was really sad when the dad died because I never expected that to happen. I really enojyed watching this movie but felt like there were a lot of points I was missing out on in the end.

Brother

I really enjoyed watching the film Brother because of various reasons. First off, it reminded me of an American movie such as The Godfather because of all of the killings and violence. Sergei Bordov truly fulfilled the role of his character,Danila, by being so violent but yet still being able to have normal qualities. For example, how he was so into listening to music and I think used as a way to set his mind free from reality. I felt really bad for him in the beginning of the movie when the only thing he wanted to know was the name of the song "Whistle" and the director was so rude and he was beaten up. I think a lot of his skills he used to survive were thanks to serving in the war. I was really amazed how he created his own gun and used the nail heads as the bullets. The one specific part of this movie that really kept me on edge was when the "creep" had his Danila's brother  held hostage and Danila called him. I was really nervous that when Danila walked in they were going to kill him but I was totally wrong. Another thing I really liked about Danila was how he always kept his word. Once in the middle of the movie to the Radio one director and another time at the end when he told one of the men not to move and he didn't kill him because of that.

Little Vera

WOW! This movie was crazy! While watching this movie I really did not even know what to think at first. This gave a totally different look on Russian lifestyle. Before we started watching this I kind of thought it was going to be like Irony of Fate or Burnt by the Sun but, I was really wrong. This family was crazy and at some points I felt really bad for Vera. I think her dad, some raging insane alcoholic, had a big impact on the poor decisions she made in her life. I hated the sex scenes that the movie displayed which showed Vera was out of control. Although, her dad was crazy she shouldn't have been as crazy as him! Another thing I found crazy was how her dad stabbed her fiance. Also, the amount of alcohol everyone was drinkning was so crazy. I feel like the alcohol consumption is related to a lot of the Russian people. It seems as if everyone can have a ful glass of straight vodka and smell or eat something after they drink it and it is normal. Overall, I really did not enjoy this movie because it was so crazy and Vera's family and lifestyle was so depressing!

Moscow Does Not Believe in Tears

Moscow Does Not Believe in Tears, was overall a great movie that I really enjoyed watching. This movie gave me a feel of the personalities of different Russians and also the various classes of people. I found it funny how the women who lived in the workers dormitory tried so hard to pretend that they were something else. They really went out of their way to pretend that they were intelligent especially by going to the library. They always had great plans but also had to make up so many lies to go around their plans. The lying began when they stayed at the Professor's apartment and had all of the men over. I don't think that they should have pretended that they were something they were not just to get higher class men to like them. One thing that really surprised me was when Katya found out she was pregnant. Rudolph's response and also his mothers really surprised me. In part two of the film I would have reacted the same way as Katya and would have not allowed Rudolph to see Alexandra. He did not want anything to do with her while she was really young so, he should not want to be with her now. I think that Gosha was helpful with Alexandra especially when the group of men were trying to mess with her boyfriend. I also enjoyed the ending because I did not think that Katya and Gosha were going to end up together but, I was happy that they did.

Ivan's Childhood

I really enjoyed the beginning part of class today when we had the chance to sing the songs. I never predicted any Russian music to sound the way it has today. I feel like I am learning a lot of Russian words that I will put to good use when I visit Moscow in the summer.
The film Ivan's Childhood and The Mirror had significant improvements in my perspective. I really enjoyed watching Ivan and his brave character throughout the movie. He was not afraid of anyone or to stand up for himself. I found it interesting that he did not want to attend school but rather stay and fight on the front. The little boy who played Ivan's character did a great job acting and being so bold especially to the soldiers. I enjoyed this film much more than The Mirror because it actually had a set plot and did not show different shots that jumped back and forth. Tarkovsky used many of the same weird shots and angles just like he did in the other film. I noticed that he paid a lot of attention to detail on some of the shots that we watched. I had mixed feelings about the ending of the film. I liked it because it showed how they had a victory but then it also showed the struggles on the Russian side. After watching both movies now I get the feeling of why Tarkovsky's work is considered genius.

The Mirror

The Mirror, written by Tarkovsky, was a really confusing film and watching it alone did not make it any better. The movie did not have a set plot but it seemed like he added many images or clips that flowed well together. Although the movie jumped around a lot it seemed like all of these images had meaning to Tarkovsky’s life. Most of the images that jumped back and forth seemed like they might have had a lot of meaning to him but none to me. One of the reoccurring images throughout the film that I noticed was a set of hands. I wish I could elaborate o the different images of the hands but I do not know what point or idea Tarkovsky was trying to portray. I really enjoyed how Tarkovsky used black and white and also color in this film. In my perspective Tarkovsky is a genius because I was not really able to understand his film. I really enjoy seeing the images of his life, news footage and also childhood images.

Ballad of a Soldier Response

At first I thought this film was going to be an intense war film but then i realized it really was not. Although I received a good view of what Russia was like during World War II the film was more of a love story. Aloysha's and Shura's relationship was what kept me interested in this movie. Another thing that made this movie come off as a love story is when Aloysha went to give the gift to one of his friends who is also a soldier and found that his fiance was cheating on him with another man. I really enjoyed how Aloysha snuck Shura around with him all the time. This movie really made me think about the life of a soldier and how a lot of people are affected by it. Aloysha's mother was one of the characters in the movie i really felt bad for. When the man drove him to look for her he had to go search for her in the fields. The mom expected him to stay for dinner but he was only to stay for a shirt period of time. I think anyone not just Russians would appreciate this film because they would get the feel for a soldier's life. Overall I really enjoyed this movie but I do not really think it reflects communism or the Soviet Union.