Come, watch and FEEL war as is

Rating: 10/10 (10 December 2011)

Do you like Thrill rides? Are you the kind of person who enjoys a theme park attraction? Were you blown away by Saving Private Ryan's first 20 minutes? If so, you'll have a larger than life smile attached to your face if you watch Come and See.
This movie about the Nazi occupation of Byelorussian SSR is one of the best war movies that you can find out there. Do you hate war movies?, well, this is also a horror story as well, one where you can smell gun powder, blood, burning flesh and mud, lots of mud.
This is one of those films you'll appreciate more if you go and watch it with little or no knowledge about it. The less you know of it the better. I know these kinds of movies are made to give you a more clear sense of what the war was all about and the reasons behind every character involved, but is definitely impossible no to feel angry against the Nazis and how these men brutally killed innocent Byelorussians while they were occupying their lands. If this movie doesn't make you think about how sick the world was (and still is) you're not a normal person.
The direction and the sound design are the best assets of this film. The sound is so layered you feel every single noise, the flies (a leitmotif used several times in the film), the bombs and the guns will make you ask for a rifle and a helmet to protect yourself just in case. All these elements combined creates a unique experience that makes you feel inside the war. Also there's a huge difference between European and US filmmaking. In here, the actors swim through real mud, they used real animals, and sometimes they don't end up well (Hello PETA, they don't care about you!), things that are big no no's for Hollywood and that sometimes it can heighten the sense of authenticity in a flick.
The journey of the main character is a sick and twisted one, I can't believe how an adolescent can grow surrounded by guns, death and blood, your eyes won't believe how he changes through the course of the film.
In several parts you'll say to yourself: "It's only a movie", "It's only movie", but then the director will remind you that sometimes fiction can be just as hard as real life.
Are you still reading? Run and watch this film.