Kinley
This movie feels like it was made purely to piss off people who want good shows
Logan
By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.
Cheryl
A clunky actioner with a handful of cool moments.
manendra-lodhi
I liked this short film because of the reason that from the middle till the end, it is absolute perfection. The story is about a kid who is a music student and who befriends a Man who rides a Roller. The part worth concentrating is the developing of friendship between the two. PROS:The kid looked apt in his part. The way that he starts to take interest in the work of the man and which led to the development of their friendship is good. The story also ends properly. The introduction of some characters in the starting was also good. They helped in moving forward the film and made the base for the character of the kid.MESSAGE: "Friendship is a beautiful aspect of life."VERDICT: "A recommended watch."
mfnmbessert-224-279128
'The Steamroller And The Violin' is a strange and bizarre film. Indeed, while I was watching it, I kept in mind the state of the world at that time when the film appeared, and the thing that I found most fascinating was being able to get a glimpse of every day Russian life during that time period. The filmmaking techniques are notable and the camera shots are very well-done.However, I was mostly just puzzled while watching 'The Steamroller And The Violin', mostly because nothing much really happens throughout the film. It is the story of an unlikely friendship between a young boy and a worker who he meets on the streets. The final shot of the film is of the little boy chasing the steamroller and jumping on back as they slowly trudge off into the sunset. There isn't really any moral value to this film in much respect. There is a little bit of anti-bullying material here, but other times the film just feels like a bunch of well photographed scenes of bizarreness a la films like Alejandro Jodorowsky's 'The Holy Mountain' from 1973. At times the film made me think of other oddities like 'Koyaanisqatsi', which also wouldn't appear until another twenty years, but 'The Steamroller And The Violin' is a much more linear tale than films like those two.Overall, a well-made, strange, and bizarre piece of obscure Russian cinema yet again stands the test of time.THE STEAMROLLER AND THE VIOLIN -----8/10.
MartinHafer
This is one of the earliest films by the famed Russian writer/director Andrey Tarkovskiy. Unlike some of his later films that tend to be very slow, long and deep (such as "Andrei Rublev" or the original "Solaris"), "The Steamroller and the Violin" is much more approachable--more a film for the average person.This is either a short movie or a long short film depending on your perspective. It's a sweet little story about an adorable little boy who is being forced to learn the violin (as he clearly is gifted) but the other kids tend to make fun of him and pick on him. But, when he meets a nice man who runs the steamroller, the boy has a bit of an adventure and quickly bonds with the guy. There is some nice symbolism but mostly it's just a nice little slice of life of a film.Very nice acting, deft direction and pretty vivid color for 1961 make this worth a look. Not great...but very nice. And, a lot easier to get into than some of Takovskiy's other films.
Ben Parker
The central conflict of this four-reeler is that the little boy's mother prefers him to maintain interest in his violin, but his new friend encourages him to be more interested in a steamroller. Its the old conflict between high pursuits and simple pleasures, or art vs working function. The little boy, of course, would like to have his cake and eat it too.The images are Tarkovsky, but the plot is de Sica. In his film school graduation film, the young Tarkovsky goes for beauty through simplicity - which according to John Ford was another word for sentiment.This is mainly of value for the few pretty pictures it contains - but those few pictures are pretty pretty - so that value is fairly high. The images of the steamroller reflected in the pond, and the water dropping in it, are very fine indeed. As is the shot where the carcas of an old building is knocked down by a wrecking ball in the foreground, to reveal a brand a brand new building in the background, in its place in the frame. The final sequence is also nice.Then again, you could just run a google image search for the film and you'll come up with some screen-captures from the film which will provide you with the same enjoyment - but with much less trouble (this is a definire rarity).2/5. Looks nice, but not very deep.
