A life-changing story of a boy and his horrific experiences during WWII

Rating: 9/10 (31 July 2010)

"Come and See" is a story about a young boy who decides to join the German forces during World War II in Byelorussia. His name is Florya and before leaving for war, his mom desperately begs him to stay but he refuses without thoroughly thinking about it first. In my mind, he seems to have that mentality that he can handle any situation and before he knows it, he puts himself in a very deep rut like going to war, and he experiences horrific events. Such events include the burning of a whole village and innocent men, women and children inside it. Punishment in this country is run by drunken German soldiers who only focus on their military careers and sweeping people out by killing and torturing them. Elem Klimov's story of this experience during World War II has given me a broader perspective on how people should be treated and how important humanity is in our every day life. Not only this story has given me a drive to learn more about similar stories, but I have also learned more about the camera elements of it.
I notice that the film includes never ending moments of long takes, indicating the emotional or even deep meaning of what is going through Florya's head. Floyra facing these events, in my opinion, is traumatic, but at the same time it can be a way of learning to not repeat the actions or intentions that the German soldiers cowardly acted upon. He never would have thought that going to war was going to affect him mentally in the end. Before the film ends, German forces take over and Adolf Hitler becomes politically successful. Florya finds a framed picture of Hitler and he begins shooting it numerous of times symbolizing all the emotions, whether it is anger, lust, fear, envy etc. Anyone should never be exposed to such massacres and what I have taken from this story is that it does not matter how old a person is or what race because we all should be treated like human beings under no circumstances. These victims are treated worse than animals with cruelty and such hatred. Nevertheless, I feel Florya is affected the most because he witnesses it and has to bear it all without having a say. He is oppressed because he is young as well as the other victims because of age, social status, race etc. When watching this film, I was on the edge of my seat, not because I was angry, but because I was in deep thought into figuring out why these soldiers committed demonic actions and one day I would like to know what their stories are because every person has a story to why they do certain things. Overall, this story is life-changing and extraordinary.