Come and See
aka Idi i smotri (Elem Klimov, 1985)
After finding an old
rifle, a young boy joins the Soviet Army and experiences the horrors of World
War II.
Often
described as the most realistic War film ever made, Elem Klimov’s final film, Come
and See is a tour de force of
acting, cinematography, and human extremism exposition. This engaging film of
beauty and ugliness of a teenage boy who lives through World War II in
Belorussia and who is taken to fight along the Russians against the Nazi
occupation and its extermination of those who are called the White Russians.
Midway into
this nightmarish vision of one of the worst aspects of humanity in the 20th
Century, War and the extermination of nations, I felt like if I was watching
the ultimate horror movie. Knowing that this kind of story never ends well I
tried not to get too attached to the characters but from the first moments I
was hooked with the kids playing on the beach looking to play war during War.
As young boys we imagined playing war was fun and wanted to shoot and live
those action movie moments. However, Florian (A. Kravchenko) gets way more than he asked for. Not long after he
finds an old rifle he is taken from his mother and two young sisters to fight
with the Red Army. Just as he is we are the silent witness of the worst humans
can do. What frightens the most with Come
and See is how it is probably not exaggerated how the horrors and the
cruelty is done.
Often, the
main critic about War films is that it depicts an exciting vision of killing enemies
and action movie of good and bad guys. By far, Come and See is the most efficient anti-War film ever made. I’ve
read somewhere that compared to it Apocalypse
Now is the ultimate date movie, well Apocalypse
Now and Full Metal Jacket are rewatchable
movies and have an entertainment value that can distance us from the horrible
aspects and are mostly artistic visions of War from their directors. With
Klimov’s film there’s a high cinematic value and he probably used some of the
most manipulative and involving techniques to makes us feel the disgust of War
but no one can stay passive with this film.
As much as
the qualities of Come and See are
obvious as it is depicting one of the worst nightmarish visions, we feel that
the manipulation and the strings of sensationalism are a bit overwhelming. Some
scenes are almost unwatchable and no one is spared. Just as the conclusion of
the film evokes, History can’t be erased or reversed and sadly monsters like
the Nazis have lived before and nothing can be done to correct that. It is a
bit pedestrian or blockbuster label but Come
and See fells into the mandatory film category and not for the faint of
heart too. It reminds us of the U.N.’s statement after the Second World War of
never again we must let this happen.
