Criterion Press Release: Come and See (1985) (Blu-ray) (1 Viewer)

[Ronald Epstein]

This legendary film from Soviet director Elem Klimov is a senses-shattering plunge into the dehumanizing horrors of war. As Nazi forces encroach on his small village in Belorussia, teenage Flyora (Alexei Kravchenko, in a searing depiction of anguish) eagerly joins the Soviet resistance. Rather than the adventure and glory he envisioned, what he finds is a waking nightmare of unimaginable carnage and cruelty—rendered with a feverish, otherworldly intensity by Klimov’s subjective camera work and expressionistic sound design. Nearly blocked from being made by Soviet censors, who took seven years to approve its script, Come and See is perhaps the most visceral, impossible-to-forget antiwar film ever made.

FILM INFO

• Elem Klimov
• Soviet Union
• 1985
• 143 minutes
• Color
• 1.37:1
• Russian, German
• Spine #1035
  
  SPECIAL FEATURES
  • New 2K digital restoration by Mosfilm, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray
  • New interview with cinematographer Roger Deakins
  • New interview with director Elem Klimov’s brother and frequent collaborator German Klimov
  • Flaming Memory, a three-film documentary series from 1975–77 by filmmaker Viktor Dashuk featuring firsthand accounts of survivors of the genocide in Belorussia during World War II
  • Interview from 2001 with Elem Klimov
  • Interviews from 2001 with actor Alexei Kravchenko and production designer Viktor Petrov
  • How “Come and See” Was Filmed, a 1985 short film about the making of the film featuring interviews with Elem Klimov, Kravchenko, and writer Ales Adamovich
  • Theatrical rerelease trailer
  • New English subtitle translation
  • PLUS: Essays by critic Mark Le Fanu and poet Valzhyna Mort
  New cover by Jaxon Northon
  
  June 30, 2020
  

 

[Ronald Epstein]

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[bujaki]

I saw this film at a DGA screening in 1985. I emerged a different person, shell-shocked, dazed, horrified, eyes swollen from tears. There is nothing, I repeat, nothing, like this film and the visceral reaction that it provokes on a normal human being.

 

[Dick]

Out freakin' standing!

 

[Ronald Epstein]

I saw this film at a DGA screening in 1985. I emerged a different person, shell-shocked, dazed, horrified, eyes swollen from tears. There is nothing, I repeat, nothing, like this film and the visceral reaction that it provokes on a normal human being.

Hopefully it will make its way to the Criterion Channel before the end of the year. I want to see this.

 

[Winston T. Boogie]

Yes! This is the other Russian film I was waiting to come from the Mosfilm restoration efforts. It had been rumored as a Criterion release so thrilled to get this.

 

[David Wilkins]

Fantastic! This title has been increasingly hard to find, and previous DVD’s of marginal quality. This is a day one purchase for me on BD.

 

[Winston T. Boogie]

 

[titch]

It's as hard to watch as Grave Of The Fireflies.

 

[lark144]

It's as hard to watch as Grave Of The Fireflies.

In my opinion, worse. "Grave of the Fireflies" is a walk on the beach compared to "Come and See".

 

[Winston T. Boogie]

It is said someone once asked Elem Klimov why he stopped making films after Come and See and his response was he had made the greatest picture he could possibly make and so there was no reason to make another. He could not top it nor make a film that was its equal so he knew he was done.

I only saw this film once back in the 1980s I believe. It is one hell of a ride and I would doubt anybody would walk away from seeing it not deeply moved and somewhat stunned.

 

[The Drifter]

Saw Come and See back in the 200X's on the old DVD. Definitely one of the best war films I've ever seen. Harrowing & realistic - and not a film I would want to watch on a regular basis.

One of the most unsettling scenes

Spoiler: SPOILER

was when the lead experienced temporary hearing loss because of the bombs/gunfire. And, we (the audience) experienced this for a while as well, due to the sound being extremely muffled/completely absent during this sequence.....intense.

 

[cinemiracle]

Truly the GREATEST war film EVER made.and also one of the very best films ever made

 

[Radioman970]

I meant to see this years ago. It will become more years ago after reading comments here.

 

[Derrick King]

Heads up for the region B members, Chris from criterionforum.org received his copy and the disc is Region A+B.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Based on the comments I read in this thread I blindly purchased this title and sat down to watch it yesterday

My initial impressions were not good. As I sat through the first 45 minutes to an hour, I kind of felt like I had made a bad purchase.

I think the story runs much longer than it should and being a foreign film, I felt as if there were sequences that I just didn't "get." Some very strange moments in the first hour that was difficult to interpret.

The second half of the film held me captive to its story. It's totally horrific to the point where its images never leave one's head long after the film is done. What's most bothersome is that what we are seeing really happened. The Germans were absolutely brutal to their enemies during World War II.

Though this is a film I will probably never put in my BD player again, I don't regret the purchase. Overall, I thought it was an excellent film -- and perhaps the most brutal I have seen of its kind. I think everyone needs to see this at least once. If you can catch it on The Criterion Channel at some point you will not need to purchase it.

 

[bujaki]

I saw this film upon first release and left the theater in a state of shock. I watched the sub-par Kino DVD again just to see whether my initial reaction still held. It did.
I bought the Criterion BD because I will have to watch it again (masochist!) in its original gory glory to erase the bad memory of the DVD.
Oh the horror, the horror.
It is a masterpiece and the director never made another film after this. His choice.

 

[cinemiracle]

I saw this film upon first release and left the theater in a state of shock. I watched the sub-par Kino DVD again just to see whether my initial reaction still held. It did.
I bought the Criterion BD because I will have to watch it again (masochist!) in its original gory glory to erase the bad memory of the DVD.
Oh the horror, the horror.
It is a masterpiece and the director never made another film after this. His choice.

It is indeed a masterpiece. I saw it when it was first released and it has haunted me ever since. I have watched the dvd many times over the years. Truly the greatest war film film ever made .Like almost all Russian war films that I have seen,they are always very anti-war.