On the basis of films about the Great Patriotic War produced duringthe thaw period, the idea of young characters’ romantic image of a war-time heroicdeed is advocated. The article examines the cinematic image of the war as the viewof a new generation of directors, removed in time from the events of 1941–1945.The depiction of war in films of the thaw period demonstrates the inevitable clashof the idealistic consciousness of young knights with the destructive forces of war.The problem of romanticizing heroism in war becomes relevant due to the changeof perspective on the phenomenon of war, which invades normal existence andtakes away the lives of young people who are just beginning their journey.The scientific novelty lies in determining to what extent the screen image ofwar is influenced by the temporal distance between generations of directors whomade films in wartime, when patriotism was a leading motivating force, and theirchildren, the directors of the thaw.Using the films of Mikhail Kalik ‘‘Goodbye, boys!’’, Vladimir Motyl ‘‘Zhenya,Zhenechka and Katyusha’’, Naum Birman ‘‘Chronicle of a Diving Bomber’’ andothers, the author reveals the gap between the romantic dream of a heroic deedand reality. The necessity to go to war is more tragic for young heroes in films ofthe Thaw than in wartime films.The author argues that the more reverent attitude of thaw cinema to the fate ofits characters results from the time distance sufficient for a new understanding ofthe phenomenon of war in human life, a decrease in the patriotic fervor and a shiftof focus from general military actions to the life of a specific person.Looking at the image of the hero of the thaw period and the artistic spaceof films of the 1960s, the author calls the sense of a life unlived the result ofthe youthful craving for a heroic deed and the confrontation of yesterday'sschoolchildren with the severity of war reality. The author reveals the problem ofyoung heroes' unpreparedness for the trials of war and shows the meaninglessnessof the chivalrous sacrifice in the name of a romantic idea.