The Steamroller and the Violin

The Steamroller and the Violin is a 1961 short film (c. 45 minutes) directed by Andrei Tarkovsky. A 7 year old violin student develops a special friendship with the steamroller driver who protects him from the bullies. This is a sweet film.

short excerpt:

You can watch the complete film online here.

Senses of Cinema closes its article with this:

Tarkovsky’s film, in which an adult male can ask an unrelated young boy to the cinema with him in all innocence, is clearly a testament to a time of more innocent public discourse. That said, it is tinged with the pervasive sadness and rare moments of joy that make the best of Tarkovsky’s work so powerful.

DVD Talk says,

Whether you are a fan of Andrei Tarkovsky or not The Steamroller and the Violin is worth a look. It is set up as a simple children's tale but has a lot more complexity and subtly than a good number of 'grown-up' films that deal with the subject of atypical friendships.

Slant Magazine says, "The film's strikingly sweet though certainly unsentimental lyricism feels as if it exists in the imagination of a child." Rotten Tomatoes has a critics score of 89%.