after stalin die and khrushchev denounce him in start allow more artistic freedom ( this era be know a the thaw ) . probably the two best result film wise be letyat zhuravli ( the crane be fly in english ) and ballada o soldate ( ballad of a soldier in english ) . the latter portrays pvt . alyosha skvortsov ( vladimir ivashov ) get a leave of absence during wwii so that he can visit his mother . he travel across the countryside and meet various people and and fall in love with shura ( zhanna prokhorenko ) and a young woman whom he meet on a train . one of the interesting thing about this movie be that it start by tell the audience that alyosha get kill in wwii . even though we know throughout the whole movie that he eventually get kill ( which the movie doesn not show ) and we always root for him . the movie in fact begin in the same place where it start . the opening show a road in alyosha home town and and the last scene show him walk down the road after see his mother . we do not find out how he get kill and we just know that he be a hero for his country . all in all and a great movie .