Just watch it, but don't judge it while watching it

Rating: Null/10 (26 November 2000)

This movie, in some ways, is even better than Saving Private Ryan. It's poetic and poignant, and seemed more for an arthouse than mainstream cinema (of the two people I saw it with, one fell asleep and the other went to watch Payback). Spielberg's movie was grimly realistic, unflinching, while this one focused on the individual, with flashbacks and dreams and then suddenly they're out on the field again, fighting an enemy they never see.

It invites us to watch, never to judge, and doesn't really give a point or plot, only how the war affects each of the men, in different ways. Less bloody than most war films, though violent nonetheless. The kaledioscopic patterns shifts from an individual perspective to none at all when they charge out and you don't know who's talking anymore. That's when the unseen (and never heard) narrator makes and appearance (that you can't see).

You don't really know who the enemy is, because you see them both, though they don't see each other.
But to be warned: if you came expecting a mainstream thriller, you might be disappointed, unless you see it differently. And maybe let the sweeping, paranomic scenery sink in, and then you'll probably like it.