Submitted by Lurple on 08/02/08
"And I heard, as it were the noise of thunder, one of the four beasts saying, Come and see" - Revelation 6:1
Unlike most war films, Come and See doesn't really portray soldiers making war on soldiers. It portrays soldiers making war on civilians, in horrific, heartbreaking detail.
The movie follows the journey of Florya, a Byelorussian boy who leaves his family and attempts to join the fight against the Nazis. While he is initially successful, he soon becomes separated from the resistance and his trip for the rest of the movie becomes a walk through hell.
The movie looks, sounds, and feels real. Sickeningly real. I've rarely been affected so much by watching a film; certain scenes bothered me and I couldn't quite figure out why. Looking into the film in more detail afterwards, I learned that they apparently used live ammo during filming in a number of places to make things more realistic—and if you watch the scene with the cow, you'll see what I mean. That is one intense scene, and it's no wonder the actors looked scared. I don't think they were acting. Most of the people in the film don't seem to be acting in general; there is a palpable sense of misery, poverty, and terror.
Other scenes bothered me and it was absolutely easy to see why. The horrors that were historically committed by the Germans in this area during this war are stomache-turning. The film has many moments that will likely stick your mind for some time after the credits fade. The ending has a some actual footage from concentration camps spliced into the film, and in almost any other movie I'd have found that offensive. It seems fitting here.
You can see Florya's mind slowly unraveling just by watching his face as pretty much everything he loves—and even meets—is destroyed. The transformation he goes through during the course of the movie is profoundly unsettling.
This was director Elem Klimov's last film. He's been quoted as saying "I lost interest in making films. Everything that was possible I felt had already been done." After watching Come and See it's not impossible to understand why he might have felt that way.
Extraordinarily powerful filmmaking. Be warned that this is a tough film to watch, but I think more people should see it.
I don't know if you've ever
I don't know if you've ever seen the movie "Threads" but I felt the same way you describe after watching that. While I haven't seen this movie, I totally understand where you're coming from on this. There are some movies that you see that effect you and some of those scenes just stay in your memory long after.
Threads is probably the most depressing movie I've seen, but I would highly recommend it because it's really worth seeing.
I haven't seen Threads, but I
I haven't seen Threads, but I will check it out. Do you mean this Threads?
I think that people that watch a lot of bad, weird, and extreme cinema tend to get rather jaded. I was rather shocked by how much of an emotional punch this movie packed. I watched Come and See several months ago and wrote most of this review quite some time ago, but it's still stuck in my head.
That is indeed the Threads of
That is indeed the Threads of which I speak. I heard Ted Turner actually bought the US rights after this was aired in the UK to rebroadcast it on TBS or something and aired it unedited.
I agree though, you can get a little desensitized by it all after a while. I still can't bring myself to watch movies like Cannibal Holocaust, even though I'm sure it's not that bad.
A lot of people draw the line
A lot of people draw the line at watching movies where animals were actually harmed, like Cannibal Holocaust. It's a topic that gets debated a lot among folks who watch extreme cinema.
While no animals were gratuitously harmed in the making of Come and See (in my opinion), I am certain that some were harmed. You may want to factor that into your decision if you're thinking of seeing it.
I'll let you know what I think of Threads after I watch it. It might be a bit before I'm up for watching something that harsh.
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