Andrei Tarkovsky's Ivan’s Childhood and Yuliya Solnsteva's The Enchanted Desna have some basic similarities in terms plot. Both films deal with Soviet History under the umbrella of war through the eyes of young children for the most part (both Tarkovsky & Solnsteva play with the idea of time, flashbacks & memory as well).
But it’s the imagery of both films that really ties them together.
Solnsteva already had a rich & long history in Soviet cinema long before Tarkovsky was even born (she’s mostly known as an actress for her lead role in Aelita: Queen Of Mars)...
Aelita: Queen Of Mars
And I can’t make a blog entry like this without mentioning Aelita’s strong influence on Fritz Lang’s Metropolis...
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| Aelita: Queen Of Mars / Metropolis |
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| Aelita: Queen Of Mars / Metropolis |
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| Aelita: Queen Of Mars / Metropolis |
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| Aelita: Queen Of Mars / Metropolis |
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| Aelita: Queen Of Mars / Metropolis |
But just because a filmmaker has been established for decades doesn’t mean they're above influence from the younger generation. Even visually. As you’ll see below, there are way too many specific examples (both major & minor) of visual similarities between both films that would lead me to believe she was subconsciously influenced by Tarkovsky’s feature debut.
I think the examples below back my theory. Enjoy...
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| Ivan's Childhood / The Enchanted Desna |
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| Ivan's Childhood / The Enchanted Desna |
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| Ivan's Childhood / The Enchanted Desna |
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| Ivan's Childhood / The Enchanted Desna |
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| Ivan's Childhood / The Enchanted Desna |
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| Ivan's Childhood / The Enchanted Desna |
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| Ivan's Childhood / The Enchanted Desna |
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| Ivan's Childhood / The Enchanted Desna |
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| Ivan's Childhood / The Enchanted Desna |
It also should be noted that Tarkovsky was influenced by the films of Solnsteva’s husband (Alexander Dovzhenko) which makes for an interesting additional connection....
The opening to Dovzhenko's Ivan seemed to have rubbed off on the opening sequence of Tarkovsky's Andrei Rublev...
Ivan / Andrei Rublev
