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Ballad Of A Soldier

“Ballad of A Soldier”

“Ballad of A Soldier” is a tale of love in time of war. It starts out with the opening scene, where a soldier’s mother is hoping to see her child once more, even though she knows that she most likely will not. The audience is then told that the story, or rather, ballad of this soldier is about to be told. We are then introduced to Alyosha. Alyosha was a man who was a decent soldier, and through an accident destroyed two tanks. Alyosha was then asked to see the general to discuss the conflict at hand. At first, Alyosha thinks that the general is calling him in to scold him for not following protocol. Yet, it turns out to be quite the opposite. The great success of destroying two tanks was looked upon as a reason to give Alyosha a well deserved break. The general is even more inspired to give Alyosha a break when the boy starts talking about seeing his mother, and how he would like to help her fix the roof of her house. The general is touched, and gives the soldier a few more days than needed to go home, see his mother, and return back to war. This is the first sign of many different types of love presented throughout the plot, which hold the plot of the film together.  
Once Alyosha is given his six day pass to leave the battlefield, he gets onto a train that should take him back to the house where his mother is. He meets a woman on the train, Shura. The two talk casually at first, even though this will eventually change greatly. The trip home should have taken much less time than it did for Alyosha. Yet, by his own choice he is detoured a few times. He helps a one legged man find his wife. Also, he helps Shura find her Aunt. Finally, he helps children save themselves from bombardment. Overall, Alyosha does mostly nothing for himself and helps out everyone around him. In his most caring moment, he holds back his love for Shura and does not declare his love for her. This is something that could be looked on as cowardly, but instead I see it...