Why is everyone raving about this?

Rating: 4/10 (31 October 2018)

If you want an "arty" war film, then I suppose this is for you.
I think the director only partially succeeded in portraying the suffering of civilians during times of war, due to making some silly mistakes with the planning and execution of certain scenes.
Some parts stretched credulity beyond breaking point. For example, the protagonist being allowed to splash around for ages in the bog before his girlfriend eventually decided to tell him that it was futile because she knew his family were dead.
The recurring motif of the airplane, so badly executed that it was akin to a flying saucer from a 1950's sci-fi "B" movie.
The Germans, who, to a man, were completely ecstatic about burning a barn full of Belarusians. You might have thought that one or two of them would be human enough to turn away or find something else to do other than applaud.
The very poorly applied makeup on the protagonist's face which was supposed to convey his dramatic aging due to his experiences.
The stupidity of running into the middle of an enormous field when supposedly trying to sneak past German lines to get food.
The stork. Very arty but incomprehensible.
All these issues pull down what could have been a great film.
I think the best part was the unexpected "bomb" from the airplane. Human moment.
Some other parts were well done. The sacking of the villages was portrayed well, possibly due to a complete lack of planning the scenes and winging it.
Use of animals worked well, must have been excellent handlers (apart from the stork).
The acting was very very good. Characters developed well, just some fibre, maybe some documentary styling missing to make the thing more believable.
Watchable, interesting, different, but by no means a "masterpiece" or "great".