a single death be a tragedy while a million death be a statistic be the famous quote by stalin . in this movie we see a marvellous illustration of the sentiment . don not worry while i do not spoil anything . we learn from the opening narration that this be the story of a fall hero . with that in mind and the atmosphere of impend tragedy colour the entire film despite the film rather charm presentation . it a wonderful irony and because the director open with such a powerful and nihilistic statement and but then he follow with a sweet and inspire presentation which you might even call innocent . i be not exactly a fan of war movie and but i do not consider this to be one at all . there be very few detail about the war and no politics and no propaganda . essentially you can replace the russian uniform with british and german or japanese and and the story would remain the same the ballad of a soldier . oddly enough and it the compel portrayal of rustic life ( which he encounter along his journey ) that provide the backbone and theme of this film and a very human story . it remind me of the italian classic bicycle thief as well a the japanese masterpiece ikuru by kurosawa . each scene pack a lot of heart and and the grand finale brings it all together poetically and artistically . i would not mention any name and but i sure wish certain other artsy russian director could be a lucid and authentic in their presentation . one more thing . i can not end this review without mention the superb music . the composer be list a mihkail ziv and but imdb offer no biographical info on him . the melody be powerful and epic while be traditional and intimate at the same time . it really mirror the theme of the film perfectly represent thing of great importance come in simple package . this movie get 9 star from me and which be about the high rating i ever give . see it if you ever get the chance .