Comments

Rating: 10/10 (11 February 2012)

There are scenes in "Come and See" that I will never forget, and since first seeing the film, have not stopped thinking about. As the title suggests, we are subject to an insider view of what happened in just one of 628 Belorussian villages who were invaded by Nazi soldiers. This film feels real, and is so powerful because of the excellence in which it was made, but also for it's capturing a historical truth; this is not just a movie. The shot where Florya—already mentally damaged from the overwhelming horror of his surroundings—looks at a young girl, bloody from a sordid rape is one of many images that represent the scars of the nation as a whole. Florya physically and psychologically ages, and we see the raw nature of who he has understandably become. What he has experienced is relentlessly worn on his face. The incredible authenticity and stylized sound design adds to the intensity. A really significant element that I've never experienced fully from a film is how all five senses are involved, especially how tactilely is evoked.