6/10
The Steamroller Thief
2 August 2004
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.
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