Strong and Moving!

Simply A Masterpiece

Boring

When a movie has you begging for it to end not even half way through it's pure crap. We've all seen this movie and this characters millions of times, nothing new in it. Don't waste your time.

Maybe it's me but I am very skeptical of a movie that comes from the Iron Curtain in 1964. There are just too many that are so bloody bad. For instance: The Cranes are Flying (1960), Ivan's Childhood (1962), Ballad of a Soldier (1959), Ashes & Diamonds (1959) … I could go on and on. They all just feel so outdated, low budget, melodramatic and amateur! This film is no different, outdated, low budget, melodramatic and amateur! And no, I do not connect with the old man (the scenes where he kills the German and defends the grapes where particularly bad) and this was supposed to be the films strength. Perhaps it would have been easier had he not been portrayed as this ugly ogre for the first third of the film. Finally I was not moved by the films climax as it was so freakin predictable! On the other hand the film did have a few remarkably good battle scenes that typified the early part of the Red Army's march to Berlin. But these were not enough to save this obvious piece of Soviet propaganda. After all, while this nice old man was trying to get to his son over 2,000,000 woman were being raped and Stalin had his eye on half the continent. Bad Huns! Bad Huns!!! 4 of 10 stars.

Soviets are bulletproof beasts sure... like in every low quality soviet propaganda ''film''. I did not like film. First of all since when soldiers are blind enough to can not see old soviet soldier in open field... or since when do 3rd Reich soldiers kill wounded enemies? They were took as POW and offered voluntary service in most cases but of course soviets show that 3rd Reich soldiers were bad. just a bad film. no normal combat scenes. historically inaccurate. I do not recommend this, unless you are soviet fan who does not cares historical accuracy. This film lacks professionalism as well. There should have been better scenes and they should have shown good sides of Wehrmacht soldiers too... But as every soviet war film, this is also nothing more than propaganda.

it is one of my childhood films.a masterpiece by Rezo Chkheidze. a kind of miracle because, after years and years, it remains fresh, touching and impressive. a father in search of his son. a long way. a cruel war. and expressions of deep humanity. it is brilliant demonstration of great acting and a wise script. it is work of an extraordinary director. in same measure, it is proof of a special Eastern manner to discover and transform reality. because the subject is the love. for son, motherland, grapes, values, faith and the large circles of hope. sure, it is not unique. many Soviet films presents the war in different manners. but it is different because its team has huge courage to explore the heart of war in a form who escapes by ideological rules. it can be an answer to "Ivanovo detstvo" but , if you know more about this part of world it is not complicate to discover the traces of Georgian measure of things and facts.in same measure, it can be a variant for Otets i syn by Sergei Potepalov. but, in fact, it is only itself. because Giorgi Maharashvili remains the signature of order , soft, correct order in a time without sense and measure. and the old song is the strong proof for that.

This is the great movie about war. This is the story about an old man, who takes a long journey through the war seeking his injured son. He becomes a real father of soldiers with whom he fights shoulder by shoulder. He reaches Berlin to finally find his son dead in his arms.