COME AND SEE (1985) - Movie Review
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- čas přidán 27. 01. 2021
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#comeandsee #deepfocuslens - Krátké a kreslené filmy
Elem Klimov said to people in the USA that watch this. “ In America you make scary movies that you call thrillers. Well here’s a scary story that’s real.”
The quote is more something like "Say, in America people can hardly watch this film. Of course, there are those who do watch. I think their problem is that they say: "We have thrillers, but here it's something different. It's real life".
This is one of the few films that truly deserves to be called a tour-de-force. You can practically feel the film get into your very soul as you watch it. One of the most painful, nightmarish, harrowing, masterful and unforgettable films I will ever see.
Genocide of soviet people
The final montage of Florya firing into the portrait is a devastating counter to the very idea of heroic war films. As he shoots, the music rises to a heroic crescendo, the historic clips of moments of violence and power run backwards, a ruined city is rebuilt, but we cut back to Florya. He fires again, and advancing armies retreat, guns are un-fired, bombs un-dropped, but we cut back to Florya. He fires again, and Hitler's rise to power rolls backwards, the very face of the war reduced and taken away, but we cut back to Florya. He fires again and again and again, music triumphant as all the worst deeds of this war are un-done in front of us. But these vanish, and we are left, again and again, with only Florya, his fear, his hurt, his rage etched into him like the lines on his face.
It is a scene of the most extreme fantasy, intercut with the reality of Florya's face. No amount of 'heroic' violence can ever undo what has been done by violence. You cannot cut away a scar left by war. You can kill the man and even the idea of Hitler, push all his armies out of Byelorussia, kill every man who ever fought in his name. You may have to, if you want to end this. But it will not rebuild a single village, bring back a single life, or empty a single mass grave. The fantasy of heroic violence is impossible - you can tell yourself to the end of time that this will restore things to the way they used to be, but in the end the only thing heroic violence ever produces is Florya, and uncounted people just like him. Perhaps there is such a thing as a necessary war - but there is never, ever a heroic one.
Just watched it for the first time a few months ago. It wasn't as emotionally wrecking as I thought and hoping it would be but it was plenty depressing, disturbing and memorable. It has a very raw feeling mixed with a bit of surrealism. For as real as Saving Private Ryan felt at the time, Come and See makes it and other war movies feel like pop music.
Spielberg only makes children movies, live action adaptations of scripts that should be for cartoons
"Saving Private Ryan"is a children's Hollywood fairy tale for infantile persons
@@peterkelnerxd7009 Come and see doesn't sugarcoat war. It shows you how unpalatable war really is and that's its brilliance. A rare film.
@@DanLyndon I tried looking it up, but couldnt find it, would you be against put up a link so I could find it? Thanks in advance
@@user-to7ug5vl6z Not even close. It’s equivalent. Saving Private Ryan and The Pacific are traditional fighting flicks. Come and See is a survival war film.
Words almost fail to describe this film's power. I couldn't watch anything else for almost a week after seeing it. The ageless, ancient boy's face is truly burned into my memory forever.
Unlike other war movies, there's no urgent mission to accomplish, just an ordinary civilian kid's descent into madness caught up in the savage partisan war in the occupied eastern front.
A sense of something dreadful waiting to happen builds to the films horrific climax which ive always found difficult to watch, but as incidents like these did happen, it has to be watched to remind you that ordinary people certainly do extraordinary things, but equally can do awful things.
Sorry, I used an online translator, I don't speak English. I remember seeing this movie for the first time, I was probably 12 years old. I haven't had the courage to watch it again since. I'm 38 years old. I remember how my parents cried when we watched this movie. My grandparents are from Belarus. During the occupation, my grandmother hid in the forest, among the swamps. My grandfather was in the war at that time. Their village was occupied by Germans and Finns. One day, trucks arrived, and the residents were told that they would be taken to work. They loaded them into trucks, took them to a nearby village, locked them in a barn, and burned them.
My grandparents got more lucky. When my family was crossing the fields with children, they were stopped by german partols. Their istructions were to shoot them on the spot, but the soldiers started sevirely arguing, after that one of them just waved his hand and left and another one turned to them and explained in poor russian that they must go now. My great uncle who was a kid at the time looked just like the soldiers own child, so he just could not bring himself to murder.
Ня быць скотам. This is the most important thing you can teach someone.
@@Professor_Vince wow
Спасибо, Андрей. Тяжёлая история. Нет слов. Всего вам хорошего.
Я американец, не имею никаких русских родственников, но занимался русским языком в университете и в Ленинграде очень много лет назад.
Фильм потрясающий и незабываемый, и очень тяжёлый.
This movie is terrifying. It was so realistic and I'm probably haunted for life. What a masterpiece.
Great review btw!
I'm living in the country of Georgia now. I recently found an original Soviet poster for Idi i Smotri (Come and See). It's now carefully hanging on my wall. That prompted me to upgrade my Come and See to the new Blu-Ray. It just arrived. So I was extremely pleased to get the Deep Focus Lens review. I saw this originally on the screen in the 80's. You are right. This is the greatest war film ever made. I can understand certain Americans who don't get it. We have been trained to see war films through a sentimental lens. Come and See offers no such viewpoint. I look forward to watching this again very soon in the best quality I've seen it since the Eighties.
You're inching closer to Tarkovsky Maggie. I'm waiting.
i watched this yesterday, my mind is blown, the real horror of war without the poetry and poignant speech, and like you said is still poetry, I really think this is the greatest historical war film ever
Watched Come and See few weeks ago, I was left traumatized. I don't think I ever wanna see that film ever again, we are so lucky to have never been born during the period of WW2.
Each film is made for it's time of it's time, so it's not prudent to judge against other films in the same genre. I'm 64 and saw "Come and See" for the first time last year and can truly say it's one of the most devastating documents of a war time experience ever put on film, it is truly an emotional and cinematic masterpiece. It's fully understandable the director did not make anything after this, how do you replicate a Sistine Chapel. What is a disgrace is that this film received no nominations at the Oscars or in any of the English speaking countries. Thank you for an intelligent insightful review. Michael - South Africa
Though I'm not Byelorussian, this movie means a great deal to me... I'm a grown man, and I can not go trough it without shedding tears.
Thank you for showing appreciation not only for the movie itself from a cinematographic perspective, but also being respectful towards the subject mater.
You remind me a lot of my Wife, you even look a little like her, She's Slavic Russian with a little Jewish mixed in. And she has never watched this movie, she says she can not bring herself to do it.. it is very personal to her, just as it is for me.
If you don't mind, I'll share a few small bits of our connection to the events in the movie, perhaps you may find it interesting... It will be a long winded comment.
So.. for example, my wife's 3 Great aunts were teenagers when the war happened, they were Russian girls living in what is Ukraine today. There are still many open questions, like what happened to their parents, but of the 3...:
1 Great aunt joined the Partisans, the exact events aren't known, but one way or another she was captured by the Wehrmacht and publicly hanged at the ripe age of 17. The thing the Germans hated even more than the Red Army, were partisans, and the one thing that they've hated even more than regular Partisans, were Female Partisans.
1 Great aunt was enslaved by the Germans and sent to a German family in West Germany to be their servant
(many Germans had Slavic slaves, their only punishment after the war, was loosing their slaves),
U.S troops liberated that part of Germany, and since the war was still raging in her home, and they had nowhere to put her, they sent her to the U.S, where she was employed by an American family to be their maid. The family empathized with her, were very kind and tried to help her, She had terrible home sickness and missed her family... so the American family gave her some things like clothing, gave her money etc. and helped her return to Ukraine where she would search for her family... when she arrived, she was found by some Bandera militants(Ukrainian Nazi collaborator remnants that were still at large even after the war ended) Who took all of her belongings and beat her, they hated Russians. She later managed to get help, housing etc. and survived the war.
1 great aunt was also taken by the Germans and was in a forced labor camp in Germany, which was also liberated by American troops, one American soldier took a liking to her, and they feel in love, He took her with him to the U.S where they made a family, her children and grand children and great grand children are Americans now. My wife recently contacted them after finding an old letter+photo, her Great Aunt sent to her great grandmother(which fled far east into Siberian Russia at the height of Operation Barbarossa) in 1965, in which she explained that she couldn't write sooner, being afraid of getting deported away from her new family during the Red Scare.
Their parents were most likely killed somewhere along the way.
This was just one part of the family on the side of her mothers mother. All others had similar experiences, some fought and fell in the Red Army, some starved, some died in camps, some fled or hid and survived.
On my end.. and my family it was not much different, I am from Slovenia, another Slavic family considered subhuman by Nazi Germany. The war memorials that litter the landscape in every direction from where I live, all bear one or another surname of my wider family tree, children, elderly, women... murdered in reprisals for Partisan activity in the area, as a warning. One of my own Great Aunts was a Partisan, she distinguished herself and climbed the ranks, eventually she did climb to the very top and stood by the side of the man who lead the Partisan Army in Yugoslavia, the man who became dictator for life... Josip Broz Tito.
A great grandfather of mine was part of the Yugoslav army before annexation of Yugoslavia, the Army fell under German control, and they've sent him to Egypt to aid the Italians there, after the British defeated them, he was reassigned to the Eastern front... after a short time there, he understood this was not just conventional war, it was mass murder on a grand scale, he Saw Germans, Romanians relish in the murder of Slavic civilians, a "just" punishment in their eyes, for the crime of them being Slavic, Bolshevik/communist, subhuman, uncultured... whatever excuse would fit. So he defected to the Red Army and fought alongside them till the very end of the War, when it was over he returned to Slovenia.
Another great grandfather was hiding for most of the war, then once it seemed that Germany would loose, he did not want to be branded a coward and nonetheless joined the Partisans, But never having fought, he was assigned the role of a cook. One day, one of his fellow partisans shot a deer in the forest, and brought it back so they could have a great feast... But it was a very old deer, very tough meat... and he would cook it for hours and hours in a great big cauldron... But their position was found out, and the Germans launched artillery strikes on their position, a shell blew up near, or supposedly right into the cauldron, and made the cauldron explode into fragments, one such fragment caught my great Grandfather right in his buttocks, sending him to a Partisan hospital hidden deep inside wild woods, his platoon of Partisans then went on to fight, but were ambushed and gunned down to the last man, he was the only one out of that group to have survived the War by being hit in the buttocks and recovering.
On my Maternal Grandmothers side, much of the family had aided Nazi Germans... they had come to their estate and demanded food, in fear for their lives they did anything the Germans asked of them... But when Germany was loosing, and the Germans were pushed out of Yugoslavia, they were marked as Nazi collaborators, Many people who had lost so much to the Nazi aggressors, hated anyone connected with Nazis with a burning passion and an endless lust for revenge, Luckily they managed to flee to Argentina before the Partisans could get their hands on them, many others were not so lucky, post war killings were widespread all across the country, the divide and hatred between our own people created by Nazi Germany was so deep, it exists still to this day.
There are a few more stories here, and also on my wife's side of the family, but I think this is plenty to paint the picture of why this movie is so impactful for me.
On a final note I will only add... I have traveled a lot in my line of work... I have worked in West Europe, of importance here, I have worked in Germany.... It was painful to see, that there still exists the sentiment, that we Slavic people, are lesser than west Europeans, I have felt myself, albeit subdued, the way the atmosphere changes when I expose myself as Slavic, or the way the other Slavic guest workers were treated or viewed by the Germans.
Though Its also important to note that there are also many Germans who were very kind, genuinely interested in me as a person, in my country and my opinion of Germany, who would greet me with a smile, joke around with me, with whom I shared drinks and stories and had great times...
But still, there is a dark side there that is hiding in plain sight... I believe it is because many do not know any better... they do not understand the story of a movie like Come and See, or believe it's communist propaganda to paint a false negative picture of the war.
Oh boy... I rambled so much... May god have mercy on the soul willing to read all this, either way, it feels good for me to get these things off my chest. Tudalu!
wow, thank you for this.
I am from Slovenia too and have many storis from my great granpas on both sides of the family. My fathers side is Partisan, and mothers side is 50/50 partisan/homeguard (colaborators).
Many stories are really tragic My mothers fathers 3 brothers were killed after the war, one was 17.
On my fathers side both of his hrandfathers were in Concentration camps at some point, but managed to survive. One was in Leitmeritz, and when Soviets rescued him he weighed 37 kg (80 pounds).
I saw this for the first time about a year ago when the restoration played at Film Forum in NYC. Absolutely incredible, couldn't have picked a better way to be introduced to this masterpiece. Experiences like that are why I miss theaters.
One of the best anti war films ever made: haunting how truly evil humans can be to one another. I saw the documentary and they did this town after town on a daily basis. 10 villages a day.
This one was painful. I just know those dolls on the floor weren't really dolls. The viewer's mind made them dolls in order to cope with the reality. An underrated Spielberg war movie is "Empire of the Sun". I couldn't choke back the tears at the end of "Empire of the Sun". I cried.
Yeah, as visceral as Spielberg's war movies are, I think he approached them from a VISUAL ambition, because he's a visual director with a visual imperative. Don't get me wrong, Schindler's List in particular ripped his guts out as well as ours emotionally, but even the most horrific shots still have that exquisite Spielberg visual framing.
Excellent review, one of my all time favorite films. Come and See is the very definition of haunting. Theres so many memorable scenes that will never leave your head. The child performance is easily one of the best. So happy you reviewed it
I'm so happy to be witnessing the resurgence of post-war Soviet cinema and discovering so many forgotten masterpieces such as this, The Ascent, Ballad of a Soldier, War and Peace, The Cranes Are Flying, Letter Never Sent, Soy Cuba, Viy, etc.
Soy Cuba is so Beautiful and cool.
A heartfelt and analytical review of one of the top 20 best films ever made by a very intelligent and articulate young woman.
If I had to use one word to describe *"Come And See"* that word would be: *TRAUMATIC* ... could easily be categorized as a horror film ... *"You're not living. You don't hear birds singing. You're deaf and blind. Here I am. Here. I want to love. I want to have children. Do you hear? I can do anything for you, anything!"* ~ Glasha
Watched this movie 2 weeks ago and just wow just wow everyone should watch this movie I tried to watch it a second time and I can't because I cannot contain my tears I watched Schindler's list and other overly dramatic films bht they were more like entertainment I couldn't believe a movie could change me I hate war I'm now a committed pacifist for the rest of my life.
It really ruined me for other war movies. It makes me think of Slaughterhouse-5 in that they're the two most effective war stories I know at being purely anti-war without even a hint of glamorization or a moment of break from the trauma. Come and See is essential viewing for anyone who can stomach it, in my opinion.
Watching this film for the first time was such a visceral emotional experience. Even still, like holly hell this is probably the greatest war film I’ve ever seen.
One of a kind movie, good review. A movie you can watch once and remember for a long long years.
I'm glad you've pointed the sound effects, this needed to be credited. I'm not sure if it was the first film to do that kind of bombing->tinnitus thing, but it's the first one I saw doing that, so it sure did leave a unique impression. The fact you hear the constant beeping for so long in the film, and the contrast of the noise with the nature "silence", that's absolute realism. I've served as a soldier, both mandatory and reserve duties, and noise, is something that always stick with you, always so goddamn noisy (especially in today's modern warfare) until those moments of break, those silences, usually tensed ones. Also liked that you refered the views and sights, the contrast between doing war in a beautiful place, it is indeed something that comes to mind.
But IMO there's no need to compare with other war movies, they're just two different kinds. This one is truly mainly about the horros, and growing up from teen to adult during war. Most american I find realistic as well, cause war is not just plain horror for constant 24/7, it's also a lot of boredom, waiting, looking for ways to kill the time with people who'm your stuck with, some you love more than brothers some you can't really stand but still youre together in this shit, and these obviously bring the things (mostly the humor) you find in more typical war films.
Sorry for my bad English.
This is the film review channel I was looking for. You're great in your analysis.
Brilliant masterpiece. Loved your take on it and I agree with most of what you said. It manages to combine the personal and the political in such a powerful way. The use of diegetic sound after the explosions in the first part, with the ringing in his ears, when they’re trying to drag themselves through the mud, is one of the most harrowing but also strangely beautiful sequences I’ve ever seen.
Thank you! I was looking forward to the day you cover this one. One of the most impactful 1st watches I've experienced (which was early last year, & I did put it off for awhile due to its reputation & to get myself in the right place for it & it was well worth it). This is an alltimer. One of the best performances of alltime as well.. Love your commentary here
Really great breakdown! Definitely subbed.
Just watched this for the first time yesterday and damn did it have an impact. I can't stop thinking about it. The way it was shot, the color palette, the acting, really effective.
If you haven't seen Stalingrad (1993) I think you'll really like that one too.
Your comment on watching such horror in such a beautiful place is the most surreal thing I've ever experienced.
I was at sea with the navy four years ago and watched six of my mates get lost to sea in a helicopter crash. The one thing that always stuck out to me is that it was golden hour and the most beautiful sunset ever during the recovery. It took me three years before I could even look at sunsets again cause I couldn't get the horror out of my head.
This movie rocked my head. Holy crap.
Thank you DFC! That was a fucking awesome review of Come and See (1985). I've only seen the film once, but it has definitely left an irremovable impression on my psyche. War sucks! Hopefully more people realize this sooner than later.
I like Francis Ford Coppola's Apocalypse Now. It too has a visual imperative, and the shots are exquisitely visually beautiful, but it's more about the heart of darkness in humanity--the Vietnam war is merely an allegory, a backdrop, and Coppola makes it lyrical.
The scene where Glasha is in the forest with the little rainbows surrounding her in the rain is one of the most beautiful scenes I've ever seen in cinema. Glasha and Flyora are like a new Adam and a new Eve in the middle of a war. These little escapes into paradise make the scenes which follow later even more harrowing.
As someone who loves Soviet and Russian films, I've always thought that I was prepared for any artistic expression from that part of the world... but when I first saw Elem Klimov's "Come and See" around the fall 2011, it was *by far the most traumatic vision I'd ever seen.* *Some of the scenes are still grilled into my mind* : I'll never think of bubble gum quite the same way ever again! Nor the hypocrisy of accidentally locking up someone in our own group while conducting an atrocity, and then carrying on like everything was normal after the mistake was "corrected" just in time!
So much so that I even went so far as to advise against anyone ever seeing it during movie nights at the Russian tea parties I used to go to.
I'm glad you were brave enough to take a dive in the deep end with this one, Maggie : while I noticed a number of us basically daring you to watch it in a lot of the comments before this video, *I simply didn't say anything about this film because I simply didn't know if you would appreciate it!*
I'm so glad that this film has gotten a wider audience in recent times. I saw it many years ago and it blew my mind. I think everyone should see this film. Amazing.
Try Son of Saul it definitely is similar to this and is very reminiscent. I love Schindler’s List as a film but it’s a different type of war film and functions more as a biopic. I think it still stands as a very harrowing and powerful film, and it has different intentions than something like come and see or son of Saul. Both of the latter films are immersive nightmares of the highest order
I had first heard of this movie several days ago, and after watching a few clips on CZcams, I knew I had to see it ASAP! The unique cinematography and use of face close-ups is what grabbed my attention...and wow! What a film! It’s a shame it isn’t more widely known, especially in the US. It is easily the most effective anti-war film ever made, which speaks volumes considering the violence is mostly implied, but manages to still be horrific without being over the top bloody and graphic, perhaps because that leaves a lot to the imagination.
I streamed it through Criterion Collection, and fortunately it’s in the original language with English subtitles (I heard bad things about the English dub). Highly recommend!!
I just saw this film for the first time last night and wow what an incredible work of art, I might have to watch it again tonight.
maggie your picks have been so major lately! can't wait what you're going to post next
I bought the Criterion for this a couple months ago, but have yet to watch it. Your review has made me want to pop it in tonight!
Few movies make me simply sit there for an hour wondering about the human condition and our ability to descend into madness with such glee. I felt like I needed a 'spiritual shower' afterwards.
Powerful subject matter coupled with an unrelenting score. This movie did exactly what it was meant to do.
One of the most highly anticipated reviews to one of the greatest anti war movies ever made. It delivers!! Great review as usual
anton klimov
5 months ago
My father, Elem Klimov directed this film. Hence I would like to clarify a few things regarding Come and See. 1) The title was indeed taken from The Book of Revelations. In russian it sounds more like Go and See, which is IMHO more powerful. 2) He as a 9 year old kid witnessed Stalingrad and while he was evacuated across the burning Volga with corpses floating around the boat and his mother covering the kids with her own body he saw quiate a few things himself, at one time being hunted by a german plane whose pilot was having fan shooting the kids - my father hid behind the statue of Lenin while his friend died. 3) The belurussian writer Ales Adamovich who wrote the script joined the partisans at the age of 14, so this is more or less his story. He once told my father that was have to make a mild 80% realistic version of what happened otherwise nobody would be able to sit through the film. Think of it - the MILD version! 4) To his last day my father regretted shooting the cow. But the truth was that it was sick and was about to be taken to the butchery the next day. It's up to us all to decide how moral was his decision. 5) The actor Lesha Kravchenko who played the main role was barely 14 at the time and went on to become a big film and theater star in his adult life. Also a great rock guitarist who plays from time to time and a really cool guy. 6) 25% percent of entire Belarus population died during the occupation. Think of it. 7) Of al 27 million soviet people who died during WW2 two thirds were civilians. The whole western part of the giant country was wiped out.
Sorry! I thought you should know it
The title of the film even adds to the 'no-bullshit' vibe the whole movie has. This is the basic title that every single movie has. They want you to 'come and see' the movie. ANY movie title EVER. This is the only purpose, to get people to come and see your movie. If you were to put those 'They Live' glasses on and look at a movie poster, it would say "Come and See". This is that. No bs in the title to get you in the seats.
Yes, that's how much this movie occupied my mind after I was done watching.
It comes from Revelations in the Bible, referring to the fourth horseman who was named Death. " And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see. And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him."
I really hope you review The Ascent sometime soon. Would LOVE to hear your thoughts.
What a great movie! I was super surprised that film went under my radar for so long, having loved Come and See for a while.
This is the most devastating movie I've ever seen. I was traumatized for months after watching it. Strangely first exposure to a few of the images came a long time before however, as the Butthole Surfers used some clips from the movie at their live shows back in the early 90's. You could say those shows were pretty traumatizing too. Edit: That's a good point about how Spielberg is dishonest while he 'honestly' depicts violence (say in the Normandy scene). By using an actor like Tom Hanks, you automatically project unrealistic emotions. If Spielberg wasn't one of the wizard-propagandists he would have used unknown actors like they did in Come And See.
Lol I didn't know about BH Surfers using clips from that one. Now imagine watching this film while being as high as they were in those times.
@@timetheory84 Yeah I love the idea of either of those guys or maybe Willem Dafoe. : )
@@gal2659 Or as high as I was in those times. Really there was no point in going to a BHS show unless you were tripping as hard as the band was.
I'm still kind of traumatized by it 10 years later! I saw in twice around fall 2011.
My grandfathers 355th regiment liberated Ohrdruf April 5th 6th of 1945. The pictures he brought home haunted me when I found them in a cigar box with his 2Btonze Stars and his 2 Theatre Ribbons and rifleman badge when I was young. I watched videos recently about that Ohrdruf Concentration camp. To see what he saw. Also watched videos on the Aleutian Islands where he fought in 43&44 and Rhineland and Central Europe Jan45 till the end of the war.. Specifically The Battle of the Rhine River. He came home raised 8kids and retired after 30yrs from the Bluegrass Army Depot where we store the nation's chemical weapons stockpile. He passed in 88 from lung cancer he more than likely got from exposure to asbestos in the millyard of the Depot.
Come and See absolutely blew me away as well. Great Film
He said the Aleutian islands was the most beautiful place he'd ever seen in the summer but the winter was horribly cold. Said he wished he had a fishing pole 😂
Such a great film and review, you should check out The Ascent and Army of Shadows if you haven’t, I think you’ll love those films if you like Apocalypse Now and Come and See.
I agree with so much what you say. Watching your review is just like watching this movie with a like minded friend and talking about our experience afterwards. It's hard for me to find someone who is both into such sensitive pieces like those Tarkovsky made and also capable and willing to open up to this horrifying subject.
I saw this extrodinary film shortly after it came out.
This is the best review I have seen of this film.
Many thanks.
Come and See is a masterpiece. Have you seen Sam Peckinpah's Cross of Iron? It's another bleak WWII film but it's framed from the German perspective which is super rare for an English language film. It's well worth a watch.
It’s interesting how important sound is in this movie. I watched it once with a subpar setup and it was disturbing. But the I watched it with a great speaker setup and I thought I would have to pause the movie and go throw up because it was so overwhelming.
omg this is crazy i literally watched this for the first time last night!! it was brutal i have never wanted to die so badly. great review though :D
Hey, great review! I never watched this movie, even though im russian, and learned about it a long time ago, cos i was always, kinda scared too see it. Im a very emotional person, and i always thought that it would traumatize me. But hearing your review and hearing you say "you should watch it for all the reasons that you are afraid of it", made me realize that i probably should.
One of my favorite films, thanks for the review
Does Aleksey Kravchenko give the greatest on-screen performance of all time by a male actor in this movie?
Can't believe I've just discovered this goldmine of a channel.
Thanks for the rec. Downloading it now.
If you're interested, Maggie, you might like to check out Lu Chuan's 2007 "City of Life and Death (Nanjing, Nanjing) about the Japanese assault on coastal China, an event later to be known as "The Rape of Nanjing".
The movie is a bit melodramatic, but morally very similar to "Come and See" : strangely much more watchable and enjoyable, regardless of whether a given viewer is emotionally prepared.
great review,
can you do a review on friedricho filinie,s
eight and a half
it would be interesting to hear your take on it
Absolute masterpiece, good review, thank you.
Just rewatched the film after a few years. It's a tough watch and I almost feel guilty for seeing it, partly for the unbelievable filmmaking. The German part of my family had a tough time when the Russians entered Berlin at the end of the war but after knowing the events of this film are so real, unfortunately you can get a sense of what may have potentially made them lash out. Family members were not treated well (to put it mildly) especially the females. After seeing this film, it makes the futility of war very apparent. It almost seems incongruous that there would be moments of beauty in the madness of it all. There are so many places in this film that stand out for so many reasons. The tracer bullets and flares scene is just horrifying in a highly visceral and yet remarkable way. Everyone in this film acted really well but Olga Mironova was outstanding as Glasha; frighteningly wild and yet very vulnerable. Her almost smile and grimace to camera is definitely an unforgettable moment that has been stuck in my mind, ever since the first time I saw it. She almost embodies a primal wood nymph spirit of sorts. The scene where Flyora and Glasha meet for the first time is brilliantly odd and strange and wonderful, all at the same time. As you say, this is a film that should be seen
Simply a masterpiece, and a one-of-a-kind experience!!
Does anybody know where I can watch this movie with English subtitles, or better yet, with English overdub?
I definitely share this sentiment as well. And there are only a handful of films so honest and bold. one of which is ‘city of life and death’ as it also deals with similar internal struggles with the main protagonist.. a sort of nonchalant and bleak presentation.
Glad you reviewed this film. Thank you.
I love the tight face reactions of everybody. I love the child experience of wanting to go to war and then experiencing the horrific. Just watched it again. Especially the contrast from the beginning. Then the ending. Even the birds eating under the table beautiful.
When I watch any war or history film this film is the gold standard to which I compare everything to whether it’s warranted or not. There are many great films like platoon, the deer hunter, saving private Ryan, but this is how you fully engross someone in the absolute raw tragedy that is war with a narrative feature without making it a documentary
Don't forget Thin Red Line.
Master review. Great channel, I feel like you raided my movie collection.
This is the best reaction I've seen for this film. Good work
Wow nice I just watched this masterpiece for this time a few days ago. Greatest war film of all time to me.
Great review, I mean, this film, is a must see, but, is not easy. But then I an actual war film, stripped of heroism and romanticism, it is honest, and, because of that, brutal. Also, best acting I have ever seen from a child actor [one of the best performances I have seen from an actor, for that matter.]
Thank you. Hard film to watch, especially as a grown up. It didn't affect me the same way when I saw it for the first time as a young teen. I agree with you that some war movies like Schindler's List or Saving Private Ryan do not get to a real, deeper emotional depths, for the reasons you mentioned, visual or philosophical.
It's still insane to think that live rounds were used throughout the filming of this movie. Christ. I mean I'm not suprised because it was made in soviet russia just it gives me bad anxiety just thinking about being an actor in that movie. I wouldve probably had a damn heart attack. I've had a bullet go right over my head once ( I wanst being shot at on purpose or wasnt like doing anything bad. Just was living in an area where gun fire wasnt abnormal or a rarity. And that was such a scary situation. It took me an hour or 2 to calm my nerves down after. It's not fun. So I couldnt imagine that happening multiple times to me cuz I'm acting in a movie. Just geez
one of the most haunting movies ive ever watched!’
Love your analysis❤❤❤
Now you got me curious. I've never heard of this film.
Perfect review of a great and very disturbing film. Disturbing because it was based on multiple true events. Once seen, never truly forgotten.
This movie gave me massive anxiety like no other. Brilliant piece of work, but don’t know if I’ll ever watch it again.
So glad Criterion got their hands on this.
Hollowood always presents war films with "heroes". In real war there are none.
I watched this yesterday and I agree movies like saving private Ryan just show 1 part of things and in ways are romanticized... Come and see felt like a true horror movie remenecent of a nightmare like a war version of Orson wells The Trial
Come and see, Stalker.
Daywatch ,Nightwatch.
Russian Ark.
I'm so glad I ventured out to explore non American/Hollywood movies.
The only film that can make me piss myself with fear solely through the image. The zooming out shot of the girl wearing the black raincoat in the forest is the most terrifying thing ever put on film.
Thanks for reviewing my favourite movie! I agree that the actors performances are outstanding and my favourite scene is also Glashas dance in the dream sequence - its a great contrast to the viewers later knowledge that Floras family likely gets murdered around this time. I'm also a bit sad we never saw Olga Mironova in another movie.
The only two hollywood movies that are not far behind are in my opinion Full Metal Jacket and especially Platoon because it also shows the escalating madness and brutality of very human characters in a realistic and non-glorifying manner.
I wish you the best for your life :)
Agreed. Though for me Apocalypse Now is probably my favorite American war film.
The actors deserve huge praise as well for this film
Also pls pls pls review the film whale rider
Hugely under rated masterpiece
Watched this for the first time last night. Man oh man i was blown away, but I cried a couple times man it was very effective
CLASSIC. I did a video comparing it to “The Painted Bird” which is a similar but much lesser film.
The Painted Bird sucked. Very badly-conceived film. You can't have over 2 hours of nothing but brutality and misery b/c that just undermines itself. Come and See is a far superior film but still has the same problem imo
Now I suggest you see the joint Chinese and Japanese film: City of Life and Death (2009).
I love Come and See. What I like about it is that it doesn't sugarcoat war. I hate the way Hollywood sugarcoats war.
A truly disturbing film. I saw it nearly twenty years ago and it give me nightmares.
Fantastic review!
The Criterion version is fantastic. Have you seen The Painted Bird ?
Das Boot has a lot of the same elements that Come and See would use a few years later.
Is Come and See the film where the boy and all the other characters look directly into the camera lens, into us the audience, break the fourth wall?
That sort of happens yeah
What the Soviet population overcame during WW2 is truly staggering.
Thx for the review
Bro ur really good at talking
It should have been called "Come and See. We have such sights to show you"
"We'll tear your soul apart"
It's a reference to the Book of Revelations, so that's pretty much what the title implies.
Good thing you are getting into Russian cinema, because I think Russia has made wonderful movies. I recommend you other movies like "The cranes are flying", "Moscow does not believe in tears", "Battleship of Potemkin", films from Andrei Tarkovsy, "The dawns here are quiet", "The irony of fate", "Brat", "The Battle for Sebastopol". You can easily find them in CZcams. At least I can in my country
Even several of the actors supposedly said they were themselves so traumatized after being in this movie that they had aged during the filming process!
An actor who played an SS officer with a small animal. His name is Victor Klaus Lorenz. During the war, he fought as a member of the Latvian SS Volunteer Legion. He was arrested in 1945 by the KGB of the USSR and sent into exile. In 1946, he was granted amnesty by the USSR government and subsequently became a screenwriter and actor in the USSR