Idi i smotri

Plot synopsis:
In 1943, two Byelorussian boys dig in a sand field looking for abandoned rifles in order to join the Soviet partisan forces. One of the boys, Florya, finds an SVT-40 rifle, and the next day partisans arrive at Florya's house to conscript him. Florya becomes a low-rank militiaman and is ordered to perform menial tasks. When the partisans are ready to move on, their commander, Kosach, orders Florya to remain behind at the camp. Bitterly disappointed, Florya walks into the forest weeping and meets Glasha, and the two bond before the camp is suddenly attacked by German paratroopers and dive bombers. Florya is partially deafened from explosions before the two hide in the forest to avoid the German soldiers. Florya and Glasha travel to his village, only to find his home deserted and covered in flies. Denying that his family is dead, Florya believes that they are hiding on a nearby island across a bog. As they leave the village, Glasha sees a pile of bodies behind the house, but does not alert Florya. The two become hysterical after wading through the bog, where Glasha screams at Florya his family were dead in the village. They are soon met by Roubej, a partisan fighter, who takes them to a large group of villagers who have fled the Germans. Florya sees an elderly villager badly burnt by the Germans, who tells him that he witnessed his family's execution. Florya accepts that his family is dead and blames himself for the tragedy.
Roubej takes Florya and two other men to find food at a nearby warehouse, only to find it being guarded by German troops, and during their retreat the group unknowingly wanders through a minefield resulting in the deaths of the two companions. That evening Roubej and Florya sneak up to an occupied village and manage to steal a cow from a collaborating farmer, however Roubej and the cow are shot and killed by a German machine gun. The next morning, Florya attempts to steal a horse and cart but the owner catches him but instead of doing him harm, he helps hide Florya's identity when SS troops approach. Florya is taken to the village of Perekhody, where they hurriedly discuss a fake identity for him, while the SS unit (based off the Dirlewanger Brigade) accompanied by Byelorussian collaborators surround and occupy the village. Florya tries to warn the townsfolk they are being herded to their deaths, but is forced to join them inside a church. Florya and a young woman bearing a strong resemblance to Glasha manage to escape; the young woman is dragged by her hair across the ground and herded into a truck to be gang raped, while Florya is forced to watch as grenades are thrown into the church before it is set ablaze and shot. A German officer points a gun to Florya's head to pose for a picture before leaving him to slump to the ground and die as the soldiers leave. Florya later wanders out of the scorched village in the direction of the Germans, where he discovers they had been ambushed by the partisans. After recovering his jacket and rifle, Florya comes across the young woman who had also escaped the church in a fugue state after having been gang raped and beaten. Florya returns to the village and finds that his fellow partisans have captured eleven of the Germans and their collaborators, including the commander. Kosach forces most of the collaborators to douse the Germans with a can of petrol, but the disgusted crowd shoots them all before they can be set on fire, ending their lives relatively painlessly. As the partisans leave, Florya notices a framed portrait of Adolf Hitler in a puddle and shoots it – the first time he has used his rifle.
In the film's final scene, Florya catches up and blends in with his partisan comrades marching through the woods as snow blankets the ground.

Tags: murder, realism, bleak, anti war, violence, insanity, psychedelic, tragedy, revenge

Review: