tough to watch but amazing

Rating: 9/10 (10 June 2008)

This was a fascinating but at the same time heart-wrenching look into the lives of Byelorussian soldiers during World War II. When the film begins, German soldiers have already entered the country and are brutally killing the Byelorussian soldiers and civilians with smiles on their faces. We see the story through the eyes of Florya, a young boy thrust into the war by soviet partisans much to the dismay of his mother. We see the transition of a normal boy to an extremely disturbed young man. The more brutality he sees, the more his insanity increases. As hard as this film was to see, I couldn't keep my eyes off the screen. I found it visually stunning and highly recommend it to not only a film major but history buff as well. I also found the music selection particularly interesting especially in the end, using both Mozart's Lacrimosa and Wagner's (a Nazi sympathizer) Die Walkure in very emotional scenes.