Movielogr

Come and See (1985)

Directed by Elem Klimov

War | Drama

Most recently watched by AllAboutSteve, lordofthemovies

Overview

The invasion of a village in Byelorussia by German forces sends young Florya into the forest to join the weary Resistance fighters, against his family’s wishes. There he meets a girl, Glasha, who accompanies him back to his village. On returning home, Florya finds his family and fellow peasants massacred. His continued survival amidst the brutal debris of war becomes increasingly nightmarish, a battle between despair and hope.

Rated NR | Length 142 minutes

Actors

Aleksei Kravchenko | Olga Mironova | Liubomiras Laucevicius | Vladas Bagdonas | Jüri Lumiste | Viktor Lorents | Kazimir Rabetsky | Yevgeni Tilicheyev | G. Velts | V. Vasilyev | Aleksandr Berda | Vasiliy Domrachyov | Nina Evdokimova | Igor Gnevashev | Valery Kravchenko | Evgeniy Kryzhanovskiy | N. Lisichenok | Viktor Manaev | Gennady Matytskiy | Takhir Matyullin | Pyotr Merkuryev | Valentin Mishatkin | Yevgeniya Polyakova | Aleksandra Ravenskikh | Oleg Shapko | Tatyana Shestakova | Anatoly Slivnikov | Aleksandr Solopov | Georgiy Strokov | G. Yelkin | Igor Bezyayev | Yakov Ovchukov-Suvorov | Svetlana Zelenkovskaya

Viewing History (seen 1 time)

Date ViewedDeviceFormatSourceRating
03/27/2018TVDVDLibrary8 stars
 

Viewing Notes

Tackled the first film, the highest ranked unseen by me, off the Unexpected Virtue Of Ignorance list. I can understand why it’s highly ranked yet unseen by so many (esp. the Letterboxd crowd). Not the most accessible film being a war-time coming of age film set in 1943 Belarus that runs almost 2.5 hours. Seems like the populist crowd at LB don’t have the appetite for such cinema (also explains why Seven Samurai is the highest ranked on that list).

Anyways, this is a bleak, depressing and sobering reminder why war is hell. The synopsis really says it all. Russian kid finds rifle, joins resistance against his family’s wishes, meets a girl then proceeds to experience the horrors of war rather than whatever romanticized idea he initially had in his head. It’s brutal on all sides with emphasis on the Nazis as expected.

This would be a powerful film to experience in theater. Also a movie that more people should watch today more than ever. The archive footage of Nazi Germany and the POW are haunting images.

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