Ivan’s Childhood

“Ivan's Childhood, a film by Andrei Tarkovsky, his very first film. And I remember the last shot of this film, the tracking shot towards the tree, and then the camera comes closer and closer and closer and fulfilled the screen completely black. One of the best endings of the film I haven't seen, or maybe the best one.”

“Tarkovsky, this is not my favorite Tarkovsky. I would say Stalker, what you call that in English, Stalker, is my favorite Tarkovsky movie, but he is a master. I've stolen many things from him, we all have.”

“Did I get Ivan’s Childhood? I happen to know this is Tarkovsky’s first film. It’s amazing. And I watched it when I was starting to think about how to make memories in my film. And so I watched this because I thought he’d know how to do it. And, yeah, the dream sequences of when he’s going back into his… to happier times with his parents and his aunt. It’s all so beautiful. And the horror of everything else and the way he’s being manipulated, it’s really quite a chilling– a very chilling film,...”

“I should probably not admit to not having seen this film, but I have never seen Ivan's Childhood. Trouble with Tarkovsky, I always fall asleep. I think that's all right to fall asleep in Tarkovsky. I mean, that's what I've been told. You wake up and it's still going on and you know it's still—you fall asleep and then you wake up and it like invades your Dreams.”