hard.
There are no men-- all women.
My dear, you"ve come back.
Alyosha, have you seen Ivan?
- When is the war going to end?
- Leave him alone. He just got back.
Let"s go, Alyosha.
You can have a bite to eat and rest.
- Wait, Mama. I"m in a rush.
- Where are you rushing to?
I have to travel on.
I"m just stopping by for a minute.
What do you mean, son?
- I don"t understand.
- I have to go. Right now.
Let"s just talk for a moment.
I wanted to fix the roof.
You"ve grown. You"re so thin.
It"s just from the trip.
You"re not sick, are you, Mama?
I don"t have time to be sick.
Are you shaving already?
Do you smoke?
I have to go.
I won"t let you!
- Forgive me, Mama.
- For what, Alyosha?
Forgive me, Mama.
What"s wrong, Alyosha?
I"ll survive. I"ll get by.
I"ll wait for you to come home.
I didn"t wait for your father,
but I"ll wait for you.
Alyosha! Have you seen Ivan
on the front?
When is the war going to end?
I"ll be back, Mama!
That's all we have to tell you
about our friend Alyosha Skvortsov.
He could have become
a remarkable man.
He could have become a builder
or beautified the land with gardens.
He was, and in our memory
will forever remain, a soldier...
a Russian soldier.Script by V. Yezhov and G. Chukhrai
Directed by G. Chukhrai
Photography by
V. Nikolaev and E. Savelyeva
Starring:
Alyosha - Vladimir Ivashov
Shura - Zhanna Prokhorenko
(c) 1959 MOSFILM
This is the road to town.
Those who leave our village,
and those who later return
to their birthplace,
walk along this road.
She's not waiting for anyone.
The one she used to wait for,
her sonAlyosha,
did not return from the war.
He's buried far from his birthplace,
near a town with a foreign name.
Strangers bring flowers to his grave.
They call him a Russian soldier,
a hero, a liberator.
But to her he was simply a son,
about whom she knew everything
from the day he was born
to the day he left
along this road for the front.
He was our friend.
We will tell his story,
a story not everyone knows--
not even her--his mother.
BALLAD OF A SOLDIER
- That's it! Let's go!
- But what about reporting?
You want to report
from the next world? Scram!
Eagle! Eagle! I see tanks!
Eagle! Eagle! Do you read me?
Eagle! This is Finch.
This is Finch! Eagle!
This is Finch! Answer me!
Yes, this is Finch!
I see tanks! Four of them!
They're heading straight towards me.
There's no infantry.
I can pull back.
You don't like that, eh?
- Skvortsov, report to the general.
- Skvortsov, report to the general.
Here he is, Comrade General.
Private Skvortsov,
reporting as ordered.
Well, hero, come here.
Tell us everything that happened.
Were you at the observation point?
- Yes.
Well, what happened?
Comrade General, to be honest,
I was afraid!
They were so close...
I was scared.
You were so scared
that you knocked out two tanks?
Out of fright?
Everybody hear?
I wish everybody were so scared.
Wait a minute. Is it possible
that somebody else did it?
No, it was me.
Excellent.
I'm putting you up for a decoration.
Include Skvortsov on the list.
- Yes, Comrade General.
Please make note of this.
Comrade General,
instead of my decoration,
could I go home to see my mother?
- How old are you?
- Nineteen.
When I was leaving, I didn't have time
to say good-bye to my mother.
And I just got a letter from her.
The roof is leaking.
Please let me go, Comrade General.
We'd all like to go home, Skvortsov,
but we can't leave the front.
This is war and we're all soldiers.
I wouldn't have asked you
if we weren't all taking a rest now.
I just need one day,
Comrade General.
I'll fix the roof
and come right back.
Well, should we let Skvortsov
go home?
Let him fix the roof?
Just make sure you're back on time!
Well, I... Comrade General...