Come and see... the brutal truth of war

Rating: 9/10 (8 June 2012)

The brutalities of war are not glamorized in Come and See; they are thrust into your face with all the subtlety of an unexpected land mine. "Powerful" and "haunting" are both over-used words in film reviews, but they should have new definitions since the making of this film and critics should not be allowed to use them in regards to most other movies.
It starts innocently enough with what might be a film about boys being mischievous and their coming of age. Then a pretty girl enters the picture and we think perhaps it will be a romance, with the young boy going off to war and pining for his lover. True, there most certainly is a coming of age, but it is a violent and horrific one that will never be looked back at with even the slightest laughter or fondness. And romance is just not in the cards for these two young unfortunates.
Aleksei Kravchenko, who plays Florya, was not an actor when he was cast in the lead role. He was a 14 year old boy and was apparently under hypnosis for the filming of Come and See. Whatever the case, the performance he gives is astounding and real. Perhaps, because of the hypnosis, he actually believed what was going on around him, hence his seemingly natural and mesmerizing ability. It is amazing to watch the transformation of Florya from a boy, who is thrilled to sign up to fight Nazis, to the torn down, desperate man he becomes by the end.
There are few breaks in Come and See, so if you are looking for some fun, fast-paced explosions or a nice hero story, look elsewhere. This film is a giant warning sign (intentionally so, according to director Elem Klimov), a beacon to the world, calling all those despots and tyrants and even "world police" (and more importantly, the citizens of these countries) to wake up and see what war is really like. Far more disturbing than this film is discovering that the atrocities displayed on the screen happened, in reality, hundreds of times over all across Byelorussia alone, not to mention the other countries the Nazis invaded.
There is also a beauty to this film, perhaps surprisingly. Amidst the chaos and blood, the horrifying disregard of human life, there is a poetry, a kind of fluid, nail-scraping, tortuous beauty. It makes you stare agape in horror at the depravity of humankind, and at the same time appreciate the preciousness of our brief existence here.