People's Artist of Russia Nikolai Burlyaev admitted he only watched the film Ivan's Childhood to the end about two decades after filming. He spoke about the delay during an interview with the information service Vesti.
Burlyaev explained that he first watched the movie in its entirety when he was around 40 to 45 years old, during a presentation of an Andrei Tarkovsky retrospective in Cannes. He said he was surprised by the performance of the young actor, wondering how the boy could act like that and noting that he could not do so now. He added that over time he accepted his work in the picture and realized he had given his all back then.
Role in Ivan's Childhood
Burlyaev made his film debut at age 13 in the student movie The Boy and the Dove, directed by Andrei Konchalovsky. Konchalovsky later recommended the young actor to Tarkovsky. As a result, 15-year-old Nikolai received the lead role playing teenager Ivan in Tarkovsky's full-length debut Ivan's Childhood, which tells the story of a boy who lost his family during the Great Patriotic War and became a scout behind enemy lines.
Burlyaev previously discussed the state of Russian cinema with a special correspondent for National News Service. He said the industry has a future but is in a dangerous condition because leaders do not understand the impact of the screen on people's minds and prioritize profit instead.
