I agree with Diogenes that it's in every boy to succeed, all Ivan needed was an older male to recognize, believe in, and support his individual value for him to rise to the occasion. In this movie a seeming outsider, a machine operator, proved to be no outsider but the best friend the boy had! Ivan had to face a negative environment he didn't deserve, but, in an example to us all, managed to overcome it without becoming negative himself! Quite an accomplishment!

My Movie Rating: 8 / 10

With its right-on message that every child can excel at something, it is not surprising that this movie won a Unicef Award; though perhaps the characters in this movie are just a little too simplistic and stereotyped to be entirely credible. What is fascinating about this film now is what it reveals about the cultural chasm separating 1981 from the present day. When Ivan's parents discover that their son's closest friend is a middle-aged man who operates cranes, and that he regularly visits this man out of school hours, they are merely bemused and a little surprised, but not hostile or suspicious, still less hysterical, as they would be now. The film thus stands as a sad testament to a more civilised and less febrile era. Alex Svanbjerg gives a highly creditable performance as Ivan.

My Movie Rating: 7 / 10