The Steamroller and the Violin (1961) User Reviews

In the beginning

[Galina_movie_fan · 8/10 · 19 February 2009]

Andrei Tarkovsky's school graduation project, the short film Katok i Skripka or Steamroller and the Violin (1960), by the words of Russian critic Maya Turovskaya, the first rate film, is promise of the things that would come so powerfully in his later films. The most important part of the little film was the joy of showing the beauty and poetry of the ordinary familiar things. The whole world of the film is saturated in colors, filled by myriads of playful solar spots, mirror reflections (yes, mirror - one of the favorite Tarkovsky's images is already presented here), patches of light on water, all living, pulsing, sparkling. Tarkovsky's camera man, the famous cinematographer Vadim Yusov recalls that the idea of the film came to young director after watching the French short film "Red Balloon" (1956) by Albert Lamorisse that ran successfully in the theaters at the time. "Red Balloon" defined the color palette of Tarkovsky's movie. The dominant color for Katok i Skripka was red mixed with yellow and compared to blue in the sky above and in the clothing of two main characters, the young boy playing violin and the grown up man, the driver of a steamroller, who had became his friend, even if for a short time.

I'd say that the first Tarkovsky's work is perhaps his most accessible, light, sweet, and warm - the terms we don't usually associate with the master of serious metaphysical, deeply philosophical, even cosmic films that lack conventional dramatic structure. I think it would be a good starting point for anyone interested in Tarkovsky's work. It is interesting to compare Katok i Skripka to Tarkovsky's next work, his first feature, astounding Ivanovo Detstvo (Ivan's Childhood), another film about a boy but completely different from Steamroller and the Violin.

For his diploma project, Andrei Tarkovsky won the first prize at the New York Student Film Festival in 1961.

we all dream of something else

[ottfried · 8/10 · 12 February 2007]

• but we all have our parts to play.

this is a very fine piece of Soviet culture (communist belief), produced as a children's movie, but definitely for adults too.

The symbolic imagery is abundant - the boy violinist trying to impress little girl violinist outside the music rehearsal studio, the girl first refusing the apple he gave her, but when she heard him play, she ate it; the boy being impressed with the mechanics of the steamroller; the steamroller driver longing for the pleasure of music to lighten up his monotonous day, which the boy can provide; the woman steamroller driver longing for the male steamroller driver; the envious street brats teasing the boy violinist; the boy violinist being taught to stand up for a smaller boy by the steamroller driver; the shining new Moscow building appearing behind the old being torn down; the adult, who has lived through the 2nd world war, helping the child over the puddle of water in the street; the adult worker chiding the child for not acknowledging his talents as musician; the well educated mother chiding the child for forgetting his initial promise for the evening and in stead on a whim having promised to meet the steamroller driver for a movie; the steamroller driver being stood up by the boy at the movie theater and the next day he will have to go work somewhere else and never see the boy again; the woman steamroller driver "accidentally" bumping into the male driver at the theater and he reluctantly goes with her and "leaves the music behind"...

a very moral story, but with the twist that everybody must do, what they are good at, at any given moment. If the society recognizes a need for musicians, we MUST have musicians, and if we need workers, we MUST have workers. But we can dream, we can always dream, of being someone else - and it is this longing that gives us the desire to do and be. Eg. when the boy is in the practice studio, he is chided for having too much imagination, i.e. he should just fulfill his part, which is interpreting the music to the best of his abilities. But the reason for his lack of concentration is that he is thinking of the girl outside the room, whom he gave the apple. Later, he plays to the musician, and now he is good, now he is concentrated - because in this instant he recognizes the differences between him and the steamroller - he recognizes that he has a responsibility to perform to the best of his abilities, and he does so with knowledge and humility.

I don't care for what communism became or was, but there is a valuable lesson learned in this gem of a movie: We must do, what we do best, and do it to the best of our abilities. And, yes, we dream - but we will always dream - of something else, BECAUSE NO ONE CAN DO EVERYTHING THAT HE HIMSELF NEEDS. Thus - in spite of the frame of reference - it becomes a film of how a society is structured.

8/10

Foreshadow...

[LE020 · 8/10 · 6 June 2002]

A foreshadow of things to come, which in its own right is a little-known jewel of Russian and world cinema...I would advise any beginning Tarkosvskologist to view this film twice: before and after viewing his masterpieces. Then, they'll understand...

Underrated....

[Gary-The King-Tooze · 12 July 2002]

Strongly recommended. Tarkovsky initial work showing multiple glimpses of his genius. This short film has great depth and detail. Personally it is was the only Tarkovsky film that I had not seen, and now that I have I rate it very highly. In retrospect to his ouvre it may be strong to use the term "masterpiece", but regardless it is so. It is also probably the most accessible for viewers not familiar with his work and could prove as a perfect introduction. I urge you to see it.

Fascinating from many points of view

[mtsmith-02 · 9/10 · 10 September 2005]

A gentle tale of a boy-violinist who is taunted by his peers and misunderstood by the predominantly female figures in his life (mother, music teacher, little girl-violinist), but introduced to the world of "manliness" by a chance encounter with a member of the working class. Both boy and man are enriched by the interchange, which crosses lines of class and age.

For fans of Tarkovsky, it is more revealing as a foretaste of visual images in the filmmaker's later work than of thematic development. But as a study of human psychology and an image of life in the former Soviet Union, it is a source of much to contemplate. Since the story line has certain gaps in it (the editing seems more image- than plot-oriented), however, it bears watching through twice (at 43 minutes, this is not a cumbersome task!)

What a delight!

[huladog55 · 10/10 · 22 July 2005]

I consider myself fortunate that this was my first venture into Soviet cinema. The fact that this was director Tarkovsky's graduate student film makes it all the more remarkable.

With a minimalist approach to dialog, Tarkovsky relies on imagery to communicate emotions and feelings, and he does so well. It's still a period piece, with obvious salutes to the "Worker's Paradise" but this is not propaganda. Rather, it is a beautiful tale of a brief friendship. Two people from different worlds are borough together, and are torn apart due to circumstances beyond their control, but you get the impression that they'll be wealthier for the experience. Highly recommended! 10/10

Roots of a genius

[veganflimgeek · 7/10 · 13 February 2004]

Roots are sometimes dirty.

This student film from Russia's greatest film genius does a lot with it's short running time. This should mostly be seen for no other reason than it is the roots of genius. There is no epic story telling just a well told two story of two Russians from different worlds who for one day are able to be the friends they are looking for.

The camera work is interesting…albeit sometimes overly arty. However in a short student film that is kinda the point huh? I was lucky to get this at the library and I would say this is worth a rental not purchase unless you're a diehard fan.

It won't change your life, but it's a nice little film.

[planktonrules · 8/10 · 12 January 2012]

This is one of the earliest films by the famed Russian writer/director Andrey Tarkovskiy. Unlike some of his later films that tend to be very slow, long and deep (such as "Andrei Rublev" or the original "Solaris"), "The Steamroller and the Violin" is much more approachable--more a film for the average person.

This is either a short movie or a long short film depending on your perspective. It's a sweet little story about an adorable little boy who is being forced to learn the violin (as he clearly is gifted) but the other kids tend to make fun of him and pick on him. But, when he meets a nice man who runs the steamroller, the boy has a bit of an adventure and quickly bonds with the guy. There is some nice symbolism but mostly it's just a nice little slice of life of a film.

Very nice acting, deft direction and pretty vivid color for 1961 make this worth a look. Not great...but very nice. And, a lot easier to get into than some of Takovskiy's other films.

For fans of Tarkovsky.

[Amyth47 · 7/10 · 23 June 2019]

My Rating : 7/10

Decent first film from one of the greatest film directors of all time.

While it isn't representative of Tarkovsky's philosophy of sculpting in time which he developed later on it's a very Soviet film culturally.

Sweet, ordinary and very accessible unlike the metaphysical, slow arthouse oeuvre to follow later from the great Russian maestro.

Welcome to the Tarkovsky's World

[yusufpiskin · 9/10 · 4 March 2021]

Tarkovsky from the outset was out of this world. Hard to believe this was a student film. Stunning work. The scene where Sasha finally plays his violin in front of Sergei contains one of my absolutely favorite shots ever. Sergei's face bathed in the moving shadows of light as he listens to this innocent and pure child channeling humanity's wonderful capacity for simple, pure beauty.

Impressive student film by Tarkovsky

[calspers · 6/10 · 21 October 2019]

"The Steamroller and the Violin" (1961) as the final project as a film student by Andrei Tarkovsky, channeling a simple plot with the use of beautiful technical merits.

It is all ready a parent that a mastermind is behind the camera, with beautiful cinematography and planning shots.

I was not touched by the film but it certainly was interesting to see hos first film being so clearly marked by his artistic vision and style.

Recommended for Tarkovsky fans as an accesible entry before delving into his later filmography.

Full of the spirit of childhood

[benoit-3 · 10/10 · 11 May 2006]

I am not a Tarkovsky fan and I feel rather proud that I've not spent the boring hours needed to take in his whole oeuvre. But I like this little film for itself, without reference to his later works. To me, it is full of the sounds, sights, terrors and illuminations of the days of childhood. While on some political level, the little violinist's situation may be a metaphor for the artist in Soviet society who is both persecuted and envied, to me it simply expresses the reality of childhood bullying. The child's encounters with his violin teacher, with a little girl, with a roadway worker and with his mother are all realistic and plausible. I love the realism of the situation of a fatherless child striving for male bonding and constrained by the feminine and orderly influences in his life to renounce it. And I can also see the extremely well-crafted photography, lighting and composition, the interplay of rain and sunlight and the almost ethereal primary colours of the film as the basic components of a lonely seven-year-old's day as transcended by imagination and poetry. Anyone who has spent his childhood in a moderately ancient and relatively unpolluted urban landscape, who has been singled out from his peers because of a special talent or status and who has on occasion taken refuge in daydreams can identify with this film.

The end of an obsession. A foretaste of things to come.

[Preston-10 · 7/10 · 7 September 2001]

STEAMROLLER AND VIOLIN represents the conclusion of my long search to see every one of Andrei Tarkovsky's accessible films of his sparse catalogue. Does the movie hold up to all the other films that Tarkovsky has done? Well, not quite. Nevertheless, the film does highlight the use of several techniques typical of Russian film: split screens, montage, and experimentation of sound. It's also a foretaste of things to come, highlighting Tarkovsky's unique style starting with his first, full-length movie, IVAN'S CHILDHOOD. Overall, an interesting achievement.

Mostly Steamroller

[tedg · 12 July 2003]

Spoilers herein.

I credit Tarkovsky with genius, PLUS he was able to use that genius to create a few of the world's most powerful films.

This isn't one of them. This is obviously a film made not from his soul but to run through some jackbooted superior's checklist. It is cloyingly sentimental. It actually tells an unambiguous story rooted in reality. It has some competent framing and images, but they don't annotate the situation in the unique fashion that he would when in his stride.

Tarkovsky's genius was in creating a netherworld halfway between non-film reality and Joycean dreamstate. He was further able to sustain visual meditations, often for a very long time, on elements of that world. Frequently, those elements would trigger lifealtering poetic constructions in one's mind, different in each viewer. There's none of that here. You may be disappointed unless you stay away.

Ted's Evaluation -- 2 of 4: Has some interesting elements.

The easiest to watch Tarkovsky film and most coherent

[FairlyAnonymous · 9/10 · 24 September 2018]

At the time of reviewing this I have not seen Ivan's Childhood or Andrei Rublev, but I have seen all of Tarkovsky's other films.

The issue I have always had with Tarkovsky was the inability to have truly engaging characters who I was invested in. The cinematography and "art" qualities to his films has always been great (even if sometimes pretentious), but I can never really enjoy the people on screen. All of the characters tend to spout philosophical debates out of left field and it never feels natural.

However, The Steamroller and the Violin tells a coherent narrative with characters who are interesting, have some depth, and are enjoyable to see on screen while the cinematography is never too crazy or unconventional like later films by the director. This also makes The Steamroller and the Violin the most mainstream of the Tarkovsky films I've seen, but that isn't necessarily a bad thing.

While watching this I genuinely cared about the characters their relationship as new friends. The unfortunate aspect of this film is that it is only 40 minutes long and the ending feels a little bit rushed. This could've easily have been 70 minutes long or longer based on the good on-screen chemistry. The ending is very abrupt and a little unsatisfying, but I enjoyed everything else in it.

Definitely worth a watch and I find it a little depressing that the most enjoyable Tarkovsky film I have watched is also his earliest one. I'm all for art films and experimenting with film language, but don't do it at the expense of the characters and the narrative.

Tarkovsky's first film: The Steamroller And The Violin (1961)43'

[omer_faruk_aktas · 8/10 · 19 November 2017]

Facing any of Tarkovsk's films in the eyes of the faithful promises awe-inspiring aesthetic journey that can tremble the angels far beyond the reach of the soul. According to those who can not speak very positively, the same films may be accompanied by intense confusion, distress and downright antipathy. (Sealed Time / Tarkovsky)

Tarkovski became a student of Mikhail Romm when he entered the Moscow Cinematography Institute. When he received his diploma in 1961, he was praised for his name in the film Cylinder and Violin.

For Tarkovsky's Cylinder and Violin, he says, "I did not try eclecticism before Ivan's Child was ruled before I started working at Mosfilm."

In an interview with Ivan about his childhood, Tarkovski said, "I wanted to convey all the hatred I felt about the war. I chose childhood because childhood is the most contradictory state of war. It is not built on a plan in the film, it is based on the opposition between war and the child's feelings. This whole kid's family was murdered. When the movie starts, the boy is in the middle of the war. " Tarkovski tells the relationship between a cylinder and a Kemanda worker and a child. This film also reveals the unusual camera angles and complexity that Tarkovski will have at the peak of Ivan's Childhood. In terms of character and event cycle, Cylinder and Violin will form the basis of Tarkovski's poetic cinema understanding. The film and the metaphor of the dreams and dreams we encounter, Apple and indispensable Tarkovski cinema.

For Tarkovsky, reasoning and even ethics requires that the formal logic be transformed into a "logic of the dream"; because according to Tarkovsky, the poems of dreams represent "one of the ways of being in the world's consciousness" and support our efforts to "face reality". (Sculp-ting in Time, p.21)  

Does the rhythm of life hinder your imagination?

"What shall I do with you? Too much imagination. "

The violin teacher tells Sasha in front of the metronome device, "What will I do with you too much imagination" presents an impressive metaphor for Sasha's dream world and our rythmic sense of real life.

In the film, Sergei is a role model father who protects Sasha and her from bullies. The story of the roller driver and the violinist.

Cylinder and Violin is a short story of Tarkovsky's visual composition filled with the mirror-reflection notions, the metaphorical atmospheric structure, the time of music and the painful yet sweet accompaniment of the main.

Tarkovski writes in 1960 with Andrey Mikhalkov Koncalovski, a screenplay. Completed in 1961, the film is awarded first prize at the New York Student Films Festival. After Mosfilm Studios decided that director Eduard Abalov would not continue Ivan's Childhood, Tarkovski was hired to complete the project.

this may be a thesis project but it is full of depth

[arubin-5 · 7/10 · 15 October 2006]

this isn't his best one, but it's also his first. and since most of his tend to be around 160 minutes...you have to understand that within the 45 minutes of this thesis film project, there is a lot content. those images of a "brand new" building represent a building that was never realized: it was the image of Stalin's design to replace Christ the Savior of Russia (Church) with a Palace of Soviets. and don't worry, the Church was still destroyed. this movie is latent with such imagery...it is the bourgeois vs. the worker and the worker is glorified (images of the the destruction are magnificent, out of this world, and everyone stands around to see this holy act). it's interesting, because Tarkovsky is definitely a religious man; but in this movie, he seems to be saying that god is in the worker/work. this movie is also interesting to look at in comparison with his other pieces...instead of long shots to associate memory (and its imagination), Tarkovsky uses fragmented images and shots to show the immediate (as well as a more abstract memory- that of war, and still imagination)...and it still evokes the same feeling from the viewer: tension. he's really good at that.

The Beginnings of a Master

[ethanj-41027 · 8/10 · 15 April 2020]

The Steamroller and the Violin (1961) - [8/10]

This is Andrei Tarkovsky's film school diploma awarding short. This film is vastly important. Important because it is the reason we have the seven feature films Tarkovsky made before his untimely passing in 1986. Without The Steamroller and the Violin (1961), Tarkovsky would have never found future work. He would be lost. Lost in his own Voyage in Time (1983). This film is overlooked. I think it's one of the finest short films (as well as student films) I've seen. Everything about it screams potential. Potential on all fronts, but especially from Tarkovsky. Although it runs at only 46 minutes, each minute features Tarkovsky finding his style. From experimentation with mirrors to beautiful reflections, each shot is gorgeous. Each line of dialogue has a purpose - it isn't expositional, but realistic. And the story is remarkable - it shouldn't work but it does. With all these things and more, Tarkovsky strongly believes that cinema is an important art form and The Steamroller and the Violin (1961) stands as a testament to just that. Tarkovsky started out extremely ambitious with this short. He challenged his fellow students, doubling the length of their other diploma films, and even tried to hire an award winning cinematographer (Sergei Urusevsky) to work on it. The goal of this short wasn't to earn his diploma (well part of it was), but to become a valuable member of the Soviet film industry. And that he did. After this film, he was able to make his first feature film, Ivan's Childhood (1962). There's a lot of "good" in this film, but it isn't perfect. Much like Tarkovsky's own style, he is only just developing and the film reflects that. The staging of each shot is amazing. Characters stand, move, and drive steamrollers across the screen like it is a ballet. All the while, the camera is the ballet master. It moves with the characters, against the characters, and watches the characters. One of the best parts of this film is the cinematography because of this character-camera relationship. The cinematography also reflects Tarkovsky's own artistic style. At this point it was only just developing - his long, unbroken takes, mirror shots, rain symbolism, unique angles, and daydreaming sequences - but it is amazing to see this developing style in action. The camera and cinematography really becomes another character in this film and it works. It works really well. The only imperfections I found in the cinematography were when I could see the shadow of the camera, and even that is hardly noticeable. The other best part about this film is its story. Andrei Tarkovsky, Andrey Konchalovskiy, and S. Bakhmetyeva collaborated to write this film. The story is so tight. Everything is wrote with such complexity. There is vast symbolism and other artistic devices in each line of dialogue. Yet at the same time, each line feels completely realistic. There aren't many lines of dialogue in this film (Tarkovsky was a minimalist filmmaker, only using dialogue when he absolutely had to. He would use it to propel the plot forward and give important information but otherwise, he would use the "show don't tell" concept religiously.) but each line of dialogue has meaning (and the absence of of dialogue has meaning as well). Meaning not because the audience has given meaning to the film and have tried to find symbolism, foreshadowing, etc. but because Tarkovsky made it with meaning; he made it as art. The story shouldn't work. A film about a seven year old boy and an adult steamroller's growing friendship is not your typical story. I think if this hadn't been a student film, it would never have been made. Kids are supposed to stay away from strangers, especially adult strangers, but in this film the two become friends. Stranger and child. It sounds very unorthodox on paper, but on film it is beautiful. Tarkovsky juxtaposes violin to steamroller, youth to age, and poor to "rich". He spearheads the message that friends come in strange places, and that two things that seem to oppose each other often need each other to live their lives in harmony. I wish this film was longer because it felt incomplete. It wrapped up rather quickly and I wanted to see even more from our complex characters (Sasha and Sergei). There was also one sequence that wasn't executed too well. There were tons of continuity errors and fast cutting (something Tarkovsky grew to especially dislike). I was actually taken aback by that sequence. It makes complete sense when you think about the sequence afterwards, but it feels out of place altogether. This film was the birthplace of one of the greatest auteurs in film history. The Steamroller and the Violin (1961) is an excellent place to start when trying to figure out Tarkovsky's beginnings, style, and love for cinema. It isn't perfect, but it has traces of perfection layered throughout its 46 minute runtime. Perfection that will be mastered and improved upon in later films. It is brilliant to witness Tarkovsky develop his own style throughout the course of this film and a great place to start for the Andrei Tarkovsky Appreciation Event.

the childlike charm is unexpected

[mjneu59 · 7/10 · 13 January 2011]

The most surprising aspect of Andrei Tarkovsky's graduate project from the Moscow Film Institute is that a director who would later be known for his dense, opaque meditations on more than one difficult theme could begin his career with a story of such benign, uncomplicated innocence. Using warm pastel colors and a (mostly) adolescent cast, Tarkovsky follows a small boy, a budding musician at the mercy of his less sensitive peers, to his daily violin lesson, where he silently flirts with another young music student, and later finds a new friend in the operator of a steamroller at work outside his apartment. The traditional Soviet preoccupation with heroic workers and heavy machinery does nothing to disrupt the lyrical charm of the scenario, and the spare elegance of Tarkovsky's direction (the film is only 46-minutes long) is distinctly refreshing compared to the protracted artistic angst of his later masterpieces.

'The Steamroller And The Violin' (1961)

[mfnmbvp · 8/10 · 25 April 2012]

'The Steamroller And The Violin' is a strange and bizarre film. Indeed, while I was watching it, I kept in mind the state of the world at that time when the film appeared, and the thing that I found most fascinating was being able to get a glimpse of every day Russian life during that time period. The filmmaking techniques are notable and the camera shots are very well-done.

However, I was mostly just puzzled while watching 'The Steamroller And The Violin', mostly because nothing much really happens throughout the film. It is the story of an unlikely friendship between a young boy and a worker who he meets on the streets. The final shot of the film is of the little boy chasing the steamroller and jumping on back as they slowly trudge off into the sunset. There isn't really any moral value to this film in much respect. There is a little bit of anti-bullying material here, but other times the film just feels like a bunch of well photographed scenes of bizarreness a la films like Alejandro Jodorowsky's 'The Holy Mountain' from 1973. At times the film made me think of other oddities like 'Koyaanisqatsi', which also wouldn't appear until another twenty years, but 'The Steamroller And The Violin' is a much more linear tale than films like those two.

Overall, a well-made, strange, and bizarre piece of obscure Russian cinema yet again stands the test of time.

THE STEAMROLLER AND THE VIOLIN -----8/10.

The Steamroller Thief

[Ben_Cheshire · 6/10 · 2 August 2004]

The central conflict of this four-reeler is that the little boy's mother prefers him to maintain interest in his violin, but his new friend encourages him to be more interested in a steamroller. Its the old conflict between high pursuits and simple pleasures, or art vs working function. The little boy, of course, would like to have his cake and eat it too.

The images are Tarkovsky, but the plot is de Sica. In his film school graduation film, the young Tarkovsky goes for beauty through simplicity - which according to John Ford was another word for sentiment.

This is mainly of value for the few pretty pictures it contains - but those few pictures are pretty pretty - so that value is fairly high. The images of the steamroller reflected in the pond, and the water dropping in it, are very fine indeed. As is the shot where the carcas of an old building is knocked down by a wrecking ball in the foreground, to reveal a brand a brand new building in the background, in its place in the frame. The final sequence is also nice.

Then again, you could just run a google image search for the film and you'll come up with some screen-captures from the film which will provide you with the same enjoyment - but with much less trouble (this is a definire rarity).

2/5. Looks nice, but not very deep.

Scenes

[maestrozoe · 8/10 · 16 December 2020]

There are a lot of dreamy scenes in the movie. Beautiful.

Great start for Tarkovsky.

[AgustinCesaratti · 7/10 · 16 February 2020]

The graduation film by legendary Russian director Andrei Tarkovsky was a good start for the director. The film features the two main characters, Sasha and Sergey, Sasha is a 7 year old boy who is learning to play the violin and Sergey is a worker who is doing a job on the street of Sasha's house.

This film didn't touch me but it makes you feel bad about how the kids treat Sasha but that would be the reason why he meets Sergey; the film's cinematography is terrific and Tarkovsky shows us some beautiful shots.

If you are curious about who this director was, this film is the right one to start watching his filmography.

Slow but Charming.

[manendra-lodhi · 8/10 · 13 October 2012]

I liked this short film because of the reason that from the middle till the end, it is absolute perfection. The story is about a kid who is a music student and who befriends a Man who rides a Roller. The part worth concentrating is the developing of friendship between the two.

PROS:

The kid looked apt in his part. The way that he starts to take interest in the work of the man and which led to the development of their friendship is good. The story also ends properly. The introduction of some characters in the starting was also good. They helped in moving forward the film and made the base for the character of the kid.

MESSAGE: "Friendship is a beautiful aspect of life."

VERDICT: "A recommended watch."

Dynamic lens language

[lijingyuu · 9/10 · 16 August 2022]

One of my favorite movies and one of my favorite directors. Tarkovsky used a lot of mirror shot and reflection as metaphors in this movie to create a world between reality and ideal, which also indicates how will the friendship between two social classes develop. The experience of watching the whole movie feels like looking through a kaleidoscope.