Study Guide: My Name is Ivan (dir. Andrei Tarkovsky, 1963)

Characters

Ivan Bondarev 12 year-old orphan; witnessed the Nazis kill his mother; father and sister also killed in the war. Works on reconnaissance missions behind enemy lines on behalf of the Soviet army. Half-man (drinks vodka)/half-boy (cries).

Leonid (Lyonya) Kholin Soviet soldier who befriends Ivan and loves him deeply. Represents the ordinary, working-class Soviet hero: brave, witty, manly, feeling, but not emotional. Does all he can to protect Ivan (e.g., keeps Katasonych's death from him), but he can't stop the determined boy from risking his life for vengeance against the Nazis and for service to the motherland.

Katasonych Soldier who serves with Kholin. He also loves Ivan and either he or his commanding officer will adopt Ivan if they survive the war. Like Kholin, he's good-natured and fearless.

Ltn. Galtsev Himself hardly more than a boy, he disapproves of Ivan's presence at the front ("it's no place for a boy"). He also disapproves of women at the front. He is something of a naïve voice of morality. While children and women may not "belong" in a war, the reality was that they were there and in WW2 there was little distinction between the military and the civilians. He's probably more well educated than Kholin and Katasonych, and seems young to be in such a position of authority. Represents those in their late teens and early twenties who went off to war, a formative experience for them especially.

Masha Her name conveys the idea that she is pure and simple, and she is a romantic, idealized picture of women at the front. She is a physician's assistant (feldsher, which in the subtitles is improperly translated as "doctor"). Romantically involved with Kholin. She insists that she self-sufficient and independent, but we are repeatedly show that she isn't (reprimanded for her work; vulnerable with Kholin). Galtsev has her transferred to the rear. Several times the camera adopts her viewpoint. Pay attention to the music and motion at these times: seems to convey whimsy and romance, wholly inappropriate for the context. Seems far from a realistic picture of women at the front, but maybe accurately reflects how men perceived their female comrades-in-arms.

Lyakov and Moroz Soldiers who worked with Kholin and Katasonych. They were supposed to meet Ivan after one of his missions, but were captured and killed by the Nazis. Their dead bodies were left out with a sign that "welcomed" the Soviet army. Meant to show Soviet soldiers what fate awaited them. Ivan, Kholin, and Katasonych all upset by the comrades being left to rot instead of receiving a decent burial. Kholin and Galtsev surreptitiously get the bodies and take them for burial.

Plot

Begins with the first of several dream sequences. Pay attention to these dreams, as they tell us of a time, not so long ago, but yet a lifetime away, when Ivan lived a normal childhood. These scenes between him and his mother, or him and his sister are tender and sweet, until the ugly reality of war intrudes. Reveal much of Ivan's trauma.

Ivan escapes from behind enemy lines and makes his way to Galtsev. Eventually reunited with Kholin and we immediately see what a loving relationship they have. While at first Ivan strikes us as wild and rude, we begin to see that he still is just a boy, and a frightened one at that. Think about how the war has forced him to act like a man, while still being trapped in a boy's body. Only one of the ways in which normal life destroyed by the war.

After much pressure to go to a military school in the rear, Ivan successfully resists and makes them include him on plans for another reconnaissance mission.

We see Masha being chewed out by Galtsev (who likes her) and then having a somewhat strange, flirtatious encounter with Kholin. Masha is from a village called Peredelkino, famous for being a writer's colony (Boris Pasternak, author of Dr. Zhivago and winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature, lived there). She makes reference to Alexei Tolstoy (only very distantly related to Lev), a very popular Soviet writer best known for his works in the 1920s, including a novella entitled "Aelita: Queen of Mars," which was turned into a very successful sci-fi film. Note that while the soldiers are all brave, smart, and good hearted, Masha is little more than frivolous love object, reflecting the sexism of Soviet society and the male filmmakers.

Kholin, Katasonych, Ivan, and Galtsev involved in planning the mission. Left alone Ivan plays a grim game of taking revenge against the Nazis after he reads a plea written on the wall by 8 Nazi captives who cried out for vengeance.

Kholin returns without Katasonych, who supposedly was called away. Ivan is unhappy that Katasonych didn't even come by to say goodbye and wish him luck on the mission, but we later find out why he was not able to (killed). Ivan leaves on the mission.

Flash forward to 1945 and the Battle of Berlin. Background music is "Katiusha," a popular war song. Voice-over of Galtsev tells us what has happened to Kholin and he discovers a file that reveals the fate of Ivan.

Some things to look for: Christian imagery, meaning of dream sequences (especially the last one), use of sound and lighting to create mood and further the plot.