The Pioneer's Violin

(1971)

★ 5.6 IMDb · 5 votes

Genres: Animation

Year: 1971

Runtime: 8 мин

Country: Soviet Union

Director: Борис Степанцев

Plot

Subtle coloring and an impressionistic approach to landscape distinguish this patriotic animated short set to music. After a flourishing Soviet hamlet is destroyed by Nazi planes, the sole survivor is confronted by a hulking Nazi commando in a tank. The military man tries to cajole the young violinist into repeating a jaunty harmonica melody at gunpoint but the boy strikes up a noble song of resistance instead. Stepantsev's film may romance the idea of martyrdom but it does so with a gravity not often found in similar films.