The film tells the story of orphan boy Ivan, twelve years old. It is the middle of WWII in Russia. He joins the soviet army and does reconnaissance work for the military. He is able to get through small cracks where adults could not, both because of his small physical size and the fact that no one would suspect a boy of doing such work. During one mission, Ivan disappears. Ivan's childhood was Tarkovskij's first feature film. It won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival.