Tarkovsky's first film: 46 minutes of Soviet soldiers vs. unexploded bombs. Tension? Explosive.
Soldiers undertake the perilous task of removing a stockpile of World War II bombshells discovered during roadworks under the ground of a small village.
Direction
Tarkovsky's debut already shows his liquid time and spatial poetry.
Editing
Tight 46 minutes—no fat, all dread.
Director
Andrei Tarkovsky
Oleg Borisov
Captain Galich
Aleksei Alekseyev
Col. Gvelesiani
Pyotr Lyubeshkin
Vershinin
Oleg Mokshantsev
Vishnyakov
Vladimir Marenkov
Vasin
Igor Kosukhin
Tsignadze
Leonid Kuravlyov
Morozov
Stanislav Lyubshin
Sadovnikov
Nina Golovina
Wife Galich
Aleksey Dobronravov
Doctor Kuzmin
Aleksandr Gordon
Military engineer
Andrei Tarkovsky
Military engineer
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Shot in 1958 at 27, Tarkovsky co-directed with classmates at VGIK film school; it won prizes but was shelved for 'formalism.'
The defusal scenes prefigure Stalker's 'Zone'—ordinary spaces made treacherous by invisible threat.
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