Come and See By Try to Look Away

Rating: 9/10 (30 July 2010)

I've been watching war movies ever since I was 8 years old. My uncle is a big John Wayne fan and ever since the 3rd Grade we'd watch movies such as The Sands of Iwo Jima and The Longest Day. When I was 13 years old I saw a movie that broke those raw-raw, American war stereotypes and it was Oliver Stone's Platoon. Since then I've never been the same as far as my love of war movies.
I saw Come and See recently and might I start by saying that this movie is nothing like anything I've ever seen before. While Platoon is still my favorite movie of all time, due to its power, individualization of soldiers and for not glamorizing war, Come and See is a different kind of war movie with a different feel. Come and See is not a violent movie nor is it gory but it might make you feel sick. Come and See is a deep, psychological horror movie seen through the eyes of a 15-year-old Belo Russian partisan in 1943 when the Nazi's were storming through Byelorussia.
The brilliant Russian director Elem Klimov allows the viewer to feel the madness, anger and frustration of seeing the enemy storm through your homeland and rape it blind. Psychologically speaking, Klimov allows us to see the damage war does on the human mind and soul. He does this by using close ups that focus on the innocent facial features of the young 15 year old main character. By the end of the film, the close ups actually become quite disturbing to watch as our main character become worn and tiresome. It's actually very hard to watch this poor boy become so diminished.
At the end, I only had one word that could describe this film, intense. Come and See is the most psychologically intense and profound film I've ever seen. I encourage people to watch this film but try not to take your eyes of the screen, even though it can be hard.