Come and See (1985)

[Winston T. Boogie]

Title: Come and See (1985)

Genre: Drama, War

Director: Elem Klimov

Cast: Aleksei Kravchenko, Olga Mironova, Liubomiras Laucevicius, Vladas Bagdonas, Jüri Lumiste, Viktors Lorencs, 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 Bezyaev, Yakov Ovchukov-Suvorov, Svetlana Zelenkovskaya

Release: 1985-07-09

Runtime: 142

Plot: 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.

 

[Winston T. Boogie]

I think there is a genuine argument for this being one of the greatest movies ever made and maybe it is more relevant now than ever. What are people's opinions on this one?

 

[bujaki]

I saw this film at a DGA screening when it premiered in 1985. I left the theater feeling shell-shocked. The director made no further films although he died in 2003. I suppose he was totally drained after this film.
It is one of the greatest films ever made and the best anti war film I've ever seen.
Someday, when I'm in the right masochistic mood, I'll pair Come and See with The Painted Bird (which I've yet to see). The novel, The Painted Bird, also left me shell-shocked, so I've been putting off watching the film.

 

[Winston T. Boogie]

I saw this film at a DGA screening when it premiered in 1985. I left the theater feeling shell-shocked. The director made no further films although he died in 2003. I suppose he was totally drained after this film.
It is one of the greatest films ever made and the best anti war film I've ever seen.
Someday, when I'm in the right masochistic mood, I'll pair Come and See with The Painted Bird (which I've yet to see). The novel, The Painted Bird, also left me shell-shocked, so I've been putting off watching the film.

Obviously, I got to thinking a lot about this film because of the war in Ukraine. It occurred to me that they should show this on repeat in Russia right now. It is such a clear rejection of war and demonstration of the idea that only loss comes from it. That there are only the survivors and the dead. There is no glorification of battle in it, no heroic arc. The young boy that is the protagonist starts wanting to fight, looking cherubic and finishes looking like he has aged decades in a short time as the horrors of war pile on to him.

Originally, the film was titled Kill Hitler, with the concept being that we all need to kill the Hitler within ourselves. The fear that lurking there within every person is the potential to do incredible evil and participate in it. It is a difficult and complex subject but the film does an amazing job communicating these ideas and getting us to really think about them.

As you said, a first viewing of the film can leave a person stunned and the director claims they actually pulled back and did not get close to showing the horrors they could have shown. I actually think this was quite wise because if the horrors become too much for the audience then it will pull them away from the ideas and getting us to ponder them. As it is, the story goes people fainted and left theaters in ambulances when they saw this. Some people call this film the greatest horror movie of all time.

Klimov, the director, said he did not make another picture after this because once he had made it and pondered it, he decided it was a film he would never be able to top. He thought he had made the best picture he could ever make and so he just stopped. It would be perplexing to imagine what you should say after you had said this. I have long been curious to watch some of the pictures Elem Klimov made prior to this. It is such an incredibly bold and powerful film, and to have seen it before seeing any of his other work is probably not the way to go. Come and See feels like the culmination of a career and probably should be seen last. However, this is a picture that should be seen, by as many people as possible.

 

[JoeStemme]

Right from the opening scene Director Elem Klimov captures the viewer's attention as if to say, “Watch this.” Actors stare right into the camera and seem to address the audience. Still, as the story unfolds we soon realize that this isn't an invitation, but almost a dare - Come and See....IF you Dare.
The early scenes play out in a, more or less, straightforward fashion as a young teen boy, Flyora (Aleksey Kravchenko) joins the Belarus military against the wishes of his family. It is WWII and the Germans have advanced into the then Soviet republic. The older soldiers send the boy back home as too young, thinking they are doing the right thing.
Flyora soon stumbles in a German bombing run. The shell-shocked boy encounters an equally young girl, Glasha (Olga Mironova) and they make it back to his home. He has been caught in a no man's land - neither fighting with the army, nor able to defend his village. The lengthy sequence plays out as a surrealistic horror show, the boy's mind unable to discern reality from his imagination. It's a brilliantly vivid and haunting passage that ends with a lingering shot of the moon in the sky.
As if mirroring the phases of the lunar object, the film moves into the next act. Even as Flyora regains his senses, his nightmare has only begun. He get separated from Glasha and wanders from place to place, one hair-raising situation to another. Whenever a respite from his journey seems to occur, something even more foreboding confronts him.
The film culminates in a grotesque display of Nazi atrocities. Klimov doesn't cut away. And, when he does it's to fixate on the intense stare of Flyora. His eyes absorbing all. Your eyes. When one casts a first time child actor, one never really knows how they will perform in front a camera - especially, when surrounded by an epic war set. Klemov was fortunate here to have a Kravchenko who could evoke both his chronological youth, but also the maturity beyond those years (he was 13 at the time). Kravchenko was old enough to probably understand at least the basics of the situation, while still being able to convey some innocence. His shocking transformation during the course of the film is chilling (he didn't return to acting for another decade).
It's only during this final sequence where Klimov makes a slight mis-step. The Russian born Director's hatred of WWII Germany, while completely understandable, borders on old Soviet Propaganda for a few moments (the film's original title was “Kill Hitler”). This tiny quibble aside, COME AND SEE is masterful. There's an unflinching ferocity that never lets up. Cinematographer Aleksey Rodionov's compositions are unfailingly precise. The film is framed in the old fashioned 1:37 aspect ratio. No widescreen here. No pretty pictures or landscapes to soothe the viewer. No letting one's eyes wander to the edges of the frame so as not to have to look at the grisly sights. COME AND SEE -- if you dare, indeed.

 

[cinerama10]

Truly the greatest anti war film ever made. This thread is already on HTF

 

[Winston T. Boogie]

Truly the greatest anti war film ever made. This thread is already on HTF

I can't find the other thread for it. I wanted to read through it and see what people were saying in it. Can you point me to it?

I searched the title before starting this thread and nothing came up.

 

[Keith Cobby]

It's an extraordinary film, I bought the DVD and watched it in 2013 (I checked my Amazon history!). It's not a film I need to see again. What a way for the young male lead to launch his career.

 

[Edwin-S]

I started watching it and lost interest fairly quickly. Only Russians could make a war film boring... well....them and Terence Malik.

 

[Edwin-S]

To be honest, I probably didn't give this film a fair chance, since I was interrupted watching it and never got back to it. Terence Malik is a different story. I actually did manage to watch the entire film.

I don't know how much impact any war movie can have anymore, in the present age, when one can watch the Russians commit war crime after war crime in real time.

 

[cinerama10]

I started watching it and lost interest fairly quickly. Only Russians could make a war film boring... well....them and Terence Malik.

I have never seen a Russian war film that was boring. They are usually very moving and anti-war. Quiet flows the Don was a classic Russian war film beautifully restored on dvd. A three part film that was released in cinemas as three separate films. Luckily I saw all three films where I worked. Russians generally make anti-war films. COME AND SEE is truly the greatest war film ever made. Not a boring minute in the film and incredibly very moving.

 

[Edwin-S]

I have never seen a Russian war film that was boring. They are usually very moving and anti-war. Quiet flows the Don was a classic Russian war film beautifully restored on dvd. A three part film that was released in cinemas as three separate films. Luckily I saw all three films where I worked. Russians generally make anti-war films. COME AND SEE is truly the greatest war film ever made. Not a boring minute in the film and incredibly very moving.

I guess Russians don't watch many Russian war movies then.

 

[bujaki]

I guess Russians don't watch many Russian war movies then.

They sure can't now!

 

[Edwin-S]

Anyway, most war movies are anti-war. The only war movie that I can think of that appeared to take no stance pro or anti was "The Hurt Locker".

 

[Winston T. Boogie]

To be honest, I probably didn't give this film a fair chance, since I was interrupted watching it and never got back to it. Terence Malik is a different story. I actually did manage to watch the entire film.

I don't know how much impact any war movie can have anymore, in the present age, when one can watch the Russians commit war crime after war crime in real time.

Well, Come and See has everything required to be a great film. Boring is the last thing I would call it but I think that if you find something boring has to do with how much interest you have in the subject.

The film is beautifully photographed, no less than Roger Deakins calls it one of the most beautiful films ever made. The young lead gives a stunning performance and the supporting cast is fantastic. It is easily one of the greatest directing jobs anyone has ever done. The locations and sets are perfect. The writing is superb, pulling off the trick of taking a very difficult subject and making it something that the audience can understand and will ponder. I'm not sure what more you would want from a picture but everything does not appeal to everyone.

The real difference with this picture, in terms of war films, is it does not use the subject to portray heroism. Which most war films do. It is not selling us the idea that out of this terrible violence comes a hero. Essentially, it is showing how much we lose. So, as anti-war films go, and sure many of them carry that message, this one really hits that ball out of the park.

You kind of are faced with this question of can human beings retain any of their humanity in a war?

That idea that there can be a Hitler living in all of us and can we kill that part of ourselves off for the better of our species?

It's not an easy or comfortable topic and the Russian people certainly experienced some horrific wars. It does make you wonder how the mistake could be repeated in Ukraine but the madness of leaders, their desire to drive a certain outcome for themselves pushes them toward these mistakes.

I think this picture would still have an impact on the Russian people. Perhaps not their leaders, but the people would fully grasp and understand it today. Particularly because the Ukrainians really are their brothers. Killing them is like a civil war in the United States. An unthinkable act. A true horror.

The true greatness of this film and the true horror of it...is that it is so relevant to our present. It's an emotional watch, but never boring.