An evocative, poetic journey through the shadows and shards of a boy's war-torn youth. Twelve-year-old Ivan works as a spy at the World War II eastern front. The small Ivan can cross the German lines unnoticed to collect information. Three Soviet officers try to take care of this boy-child.

Title from container. Based on the novella Ivan by Vladimir Bogomolov. Originally released as a motion picture in 1962. Special features: New, restored high-definition digital transfer; video appreciation of director Andrei Tarkovsky and "Ivan's childhood" featuring Vida T. Johnson, co-author of "The films of Andrei Tarkovsky: a visual fugue"; new video interviews with cinematographer Vadim Yusov and actor Nikolai Burlyaev, who played Ivan; booklet featuring an essay by film scholar Dina Iordanova and new translations by Robert Bird of "Between two films," Andrei Tarkovsky's essay about Ivan's childhood, and "Ivan's willow," a poem by the director's father, Arseny Tarkovsky.