War really is Hell ... but then you knew that already.

Rating: 8/10 (24 February 2008)

Elem Klimov's surreal tale on the horrors of war but it's also pretty self-indulgent. Klimov seems to be one of those directors who likes to linger for an intolerably long time on something in order to make his point. Narratively, not a great deal happens. War really is hell, particularly for Florya, the boy-soldier who is witness to the most terrible atrocities imaginable and Klimov films the scenes of mass horror in an appallingly straight-forward fashion, (compare this with the sentimentality of Spielberg), and the final scenes are among the grimmest in all cinema. Unfortunately Klimov takes an eternity before finally taking us into the mouth of hell. At half its length and with the emphasis focused on the carnage this could have been a masterpiece. It is still extraordinary but as it stands it is in danger of losing its audience half way through.