That poor soldier...

...all he wanted was to fix the roof and see his mom.

This film is an interesting example of a war film, even though by today's standards one would not really imagine a war film to concern something like this, namely, a boy, and I use the term boy on purpose, and his trip home to try to see his mother before being forced to return. However he is side tracked the entire time, not of his own fault, and only is able to see his mother for a short period of time. The striking aspect of this film is the fact that there is little war in it at all. It does not chronicle battles, or heroic fights, but merely a young boy who is unable to see someone he cares for deeply because of the war. It is no surprise to me that the film was made during the thaw, as opposed to the Stalinist era, because it seems that after Stalin's death, people sense a freedom from him under the new command. I am not saying that the Government was not still oppressive and communist, but that the new leader saught to undo some of the horrible humanitarian tragedies that had befallen the Soviet Union under Stalin's rule.