Directed by Elem Klimov
Screenplay by Elem Klimov, Ales Adamovich
Director of photography: Aleksey Rodionov
Music by Oleg Janchenko
Cast: Aleksey Kravchenko, Liubomiras Laucevicius, Olga Mironova
Genre: drama
Production: Mosfilm, Belarusfilm

This is not a movie that one can watch twice. This is a war film in which certain scenes remain indelibly burnt into the memory. In the collective memory. This is a war film that must be shown to every power threatening to declare war. Its strength lies in it coming from the perspective of a child. It is the suffering of children that pains the viewer most. Elem Klimov demands a level of identification unprecedented in previous war films. There is not one ounce of beautification, no nuancing of evil (here, naturally, we are talking about occupying German troops), it shows in a raw and, there is no other word for it, cruel state, what war is, and what becomes of a person living through it. Even when that person is only a child.

MOSZFILM