ivan wherefore art thou ivan

I watched ivan’s childhood during my cultural weekend of reading, writing, and thinking.
I found it boring, but only because I expected to be entertained. I knew that I would have to work to enjoy the film, as you might have to with a theatre production, but … I wasn’t in the mood, and the DVD is due back tomorrow.
That said, I did find ti quite artistic, the lighting was excellent, and especially the acting of ivan, Nikolai Burlyayev was exemplary. I researched a bit on the net, and found that most people said that tarkovsky did not consider this one of his better films – or something which was more mainstream than the others.
And whats the deal with the apples?
I should have paid more attention…