ballada o soldate have one of the most poignant sequence of all war movie representwhen the mother hold only for a few minute and her dear boy in her arm and it impossible to hold back your tear . i saw the movie for the first time thirty year ago and i have never forget it . far from politics and ballada o soldate be an universal poem and enhance by a magnificent grandiose score and which enhance the simple beauty of the picture and climax on a symphony for the finale . aliocha furlough be so short ( 48 hour ) and it such a long way to his dear home . his journey become an odyssey and but and unlike ulysses and his happiness will be short live . he and the girl form one of the most touching and lovable and innocent couple you will see on a screen . their simple joy and particularly when they share the soldier food and or when they meet again in the desert station and be the one which make a life worthwhile and even in the hell which surround them . sometimes recall sirk a time to love and a time to die ( 1958 ) from erich maria remarque and the great german pacifist writer and with which it share the same disgust of war ( i want to film a subject which could condemn war and the director say ) and ballada o soldato be one of these rare movie that will reward you each time you watch it .