War in reality.

Rating: 10/10 (11 February 2011)

At first, Elem Klimov might seem a bit crazy to make such a film. Come and See is uncommon in the fact that its a war movie that doesn't glorify war like most films do. Come and See is set in Byelorussia during WWII. It depicts the terrible massacre that Nazi Germany carries out as they try to force their way through Byelorussia. Like most kids at that time, a young boy named Florya visions glory in protecting his land and fighting against the Nazis. After finding a gun, he leaves his family and joins a local amateur militia that dedicate themselves to protecting their land. As he gets involved in the war he soon realizes that war isn't as glorious as he thought it would be. Not until he finally is directly affected by the war he regrets ever being involved. As horrible as it might sound, I enjoyed the film. I didn't enjoy the gruesome damage that the Nazis left, but the fact that it didn't glorify war and that it isn't like most war movies. Klimov was genius enough to make this film even though it doesn't seem like it would be something that moviegoers would pay to watch. This film makes you feel as if you can almost smell the rotting corpses depicted within the film. Its easy to see that the film wasn't into the project for the money, but he was into it for the purpose of telling this terrible story. This is a film that I would recommend to a mature audience only due to the realistic blood and gore in the film.