My thoughts about the film:

Rating: 10/10 (7 June 2010)

This film is one of my favorite films I have ever seen because it has left a lasting impression on me. While I don't particularly enjoy war movies, finding the violence often to intense to find anything worth fill in watching it, this movie was different because it was not centered around the actual physical brutality of war, but the mental impact it has on the soldiers. In most war movies I have seen the typical soldier is portrayed as a desensitized character who does not seem to be effected by the murdering and the cruelty of war, which is very unrealistic and a unhealthy message to send to society. What is particularity nice to see in this film are the steps the Flior goes threw to become dehumanized, which is more true to reality in my opinion. Kilmov does an excellent job at making the viewer not only see but also experience the realities of war and the anguish it leaves our soldiers in. In many scenes of the film the viewer experiences the events with Flior through their own senses. For example, when Flior crawls threw the mud pond I felt like I was there with him smelling the mud and it made me actually cringe. Also, the scene when the cow is shot and we watch it die I felt a sense of loneliness and it pained me to watch it. However, this could have been attributed to the fact that I am not accustomed to watching the actual murder of animals, as their deaths are usually faked. At first I thought this movie was an anti-war film, however, the more I reflect I believe that in this case the movie tells us that the war was completely necessary and sought to reveal the courage the people of the Soviet army revealed under such grotesque circumstances.