Twenty-eight-year-old Andrei Tarkovsky was a student in the film direction course at Moscow’s renowned film school, the Gerasimov Institute of Cinematography. Roll number 756068. Inspired by French director Albert Lamorisse’s short film ‘The Red Balloon (1956)’, he created what he called a ‘poetic film’ for his graduation project: ‘The Steamroller and the Violin (1961)’. His work won first prize that year at the New York Student Film Festival, and the boy bearing roll number 756068 graduated first in his diploma course. The film’s masterful use of color, delightful childhood memories, reflections of life seen through mirrors, the play of light in water, and psychological analysis of characters all foretold Tarkovsky’s future as a filmmaker. He blended yellow with the red of ‘The Red Balloon’, adding blue skies and the colors of clothing. Tarkovsky wrote the screenplay around the friendship between seven-year-old violinist Sasha and steamroller operator Sergei, weaving some simple stories around their bond. The writing took him a little over six months, with Andrei Mikhalkov-Konchalovsky by his side.
In my view, ‘The Steamroller and the Violin’ is Tarkovsky’s most accessible film. The director’s next film, ‘Ivan’s Childhood’, bears no resemblance to Sasha’s mental state. His subsequent films were of an entirely different nature — psychology, philosophy, and surrealism helped make Tarkovsky into Tarkovsky. Interestingly, Steven Spielberg drew upon this very student film for his blockbuster ‘Jaws (1975)’. Near the end of the film, Sasha and Sergei plan to watch the Russian Socialist masterpiece ‘Chapaev (1934)’ together, but this falls through due to Sasha’s mother’s objections. Sergei goes to the cinema with a female colleague. The girl had been jealous of the two friends’ relationship. Confined to his home, Sasha imagines escaping and running toward Sergei’s steamroller. The roller moves across a square, surrounded by many pigeons. Sasha runs and climbs onto the roller, and all the pigeons fly away. The use of red is striking in this scene. The dream of freedom and the taste of freedom — we witness this exquisite visualization of both through the eyes of child Sasha, alongside Tarkovsky.
In the film, Sasha is seven years old and plays the violin. (In reality, Sasha was indeed a music school student.) While everyone in the neighborhood plays football and runs around, he spends his time with the violin. Everyone teases him, calling him ‘musician’, mistreats him, and plays catch with his violin. One day, steamroller operator Sergei saves Sasha from bullying children, and their friendship begins from that moment. He lets Sasha sit on the roller and operate it, which creates a certain respect for Sasha among the other children. When children see someone their age befriending an adult, they regard him with envy. They damage Sasha’s violin case, which Sergei later repairs. Let me describe one scene. Sasha is going to learn violin. On his way, he sees the world through three mirrors placed side by side on the street. The same thing appears in all three sections. Cars pass along the road in front of the tall buildings (possibly of Tarkovsky’s film institute), a girl walks by with some balloons, a little boy floats a sailboat in puddle water on the street, some apples fall from a woman’s hand to the ground, it’s nine minutes to ten on the clock, some pigeons fly away. The use of red is notable here too. Sasha picks up an apple. Going to class, he polishes the apple and places it on the chair next to his classmate. As Sasha leaves the class, the camera turns that way. When the camera turns back to the apple, part of it has fallen onto the chair.
Sasha’s music teacher is quite strict. She tells Sasha he must play the violin following proper grammar. Sasha leaves school and meets Sergei. The two of them see an older boy snatching a ball from a younger child and making him cry. Following Sergei’s advice, Sasha takes a beating but rescues the ball from the bully. He’s amazed by his own courage. Sasha and Sergei watch as Moscow’s old grand buildings are demolished with wrecking balls. In the background, one of Russia’s Seven Sisters — the seven largest buildings of that era — is visible. An image comes to mind of Russia’s architectural development, leaving the old behind for the new, and urbanization. Sergei playfully calls Sasha ‘musician’, which angers Sasha, who throws Sergei’s lunch to the ground. Sergei then says, does this bread grow on trees? I have to work hard to get food. Pick it up from the ground. Sasha realizes his mistake, and they share the lunch together. Playing the violin creates a wound mark on Sasha’s hand, which he wears with pride. He tells Sergei stories about learning violin, while Sergei tells Sasha war stories. How the sensitive violinist Sasha and war-witness Sergei see the world through their eyes, their unlikely friendship, everyone’s reactions around them, and a fragment of contemporary Russia — all emerge in this 46-minute story of a single day.