Ivan’s Childhood (Ива́ново де́тство) (1962)

dir. Andrei Tarkovsky. Unbelievably confident and assured for a first time feature director. As Ivan, Nikolai Burlyaev surely delivers one of the best child performances on film. For a movie designed to show the horror of war, this is such a beautiful film, especially the scenes around the birch trees. Some of the high contrast shots remind me of THE NIGHT OF THE HUNTER (1955), I wonder if Tarkovsky saw that movie in his studies?