Katok i Skrypka

Andrei Tarkovsky's diploma film from the Soviet State School of Cinema in Moscow (VGIK), is a medium-length feature that hints at the sort of director he would become. His rich pictorial sense, the leisurely contemplation of objects and obsession with mirrors is already evident in this fable about a little boy who gets to drive a steamroller and demonstrate his skills on the violin. The message about the unity of workers and artists is somewhat crude, but the photography by Vadim Yusov, the cameraman on Tarkovsky's first three features, is striking.