Epic Apocalypse

Rating: 10/10 (9 February 2011)

The Biblical reference to Revelation 6, "Come and See" could not be more appropriate in describing the apocalyptical detriment that 192 Byelorussian villages experienced at the hands of German Nazis. The intrinsically detailed account of the psychological damage inflicted upon a young boy's mind allows us to delve into the unknown. Florya willingly joins the Soviet partisans without knowing the devastating casualties of war which allows viewers to be immersed into this tragic loss of innocence and freedom while witnessing the affects of such atrocities on the lives of innocent people.
There are several memorable scenes that are vividly engrained in my mind while I recount my experience with this movie in particular. For instance, the scene where Florya and Glasha return to the Florya's ransacked village only to find the remains of Florya's mother and two sisters implied to be made into three dolls and the vivid sound of buzzing flies. Another scene that we literally see for a split second are the piles of bodies behind the barn as Florya and Glasha flee the village causing Glasha to retch uncontrollably. Then the scene after that where we see Glasha and Florya struggle through the mud was actually shot in one long take and made in such a natural, animalistic way that we literally feel the desperate struggle to survive the trenches of war.
Also, there are several instances of symbols used to convey a deeper message. For instance, the stork is said to bring happiness and prosperity to families in particular by providing children and are also supposed to represent anti-satanism. The stork appears in the forrest after Glasha and Florya survive the bombing. Children were the main target for German Nazis because they wished to annihilate the future generation of Russians thus the stork is used to symbolize hope.
The plane flying overhead also can be identified as the light motif which appears during transitions. I thought the plane was important because it signified the new troubles that would arise in the future and the ever present continuity of time.
The scene that most shocked me was when the German Nazis corralled the Byelorussians into barns, men separate from women and children and set the barns on fire. Besides Florya and another woman, who is later seen after being brutally raped by a number of Nazis, they are believed to be the only survivors of this horrific massacre. In the end, the Nazis are corralled much like the Byelorussians were in the barns, underneath a bridge and are defending themselves against persecution. The climactic scene is when the Byelorussians choose to extinguish the torch, even though they have already drenched them in kerosene. In their own way they chose to deter from the path of their masochistic evil enemies and preserve the dignity of humanity.
The face of Florya, aged in such a short while by the excruciating pain of loss and engrained detrimental memories, will not easily be forgotten.