Ballad of a Soldier

12/13/2024

When the young "Alyosha" (Vladimir Ivashov) risks life and limb to take out a couple of approaching Nazi tanks, his Comrade General (Nikolay Kryuchkov) proudly suggests an official citation for his bravery. Instead, he pleads to be allowed to travel home to fix his mother's roof. The battalion is due for some rest anyway, so he is given a furlough for six days to get home and get back. Armed with some tins of beef and a message from one of his colleagues to his sweetheart, he sets off on a journey across a war-torn land where he has to use his wits and guile to make it in time. Along the way he meets "Shura" (Zhanna Prokhorenko) who is also fleeing from their invaders and after a typically nervous start in a hay-strewn railway carriage, the two begin to bond as their journey reminds them n