IMDb plot summary: After finding an old rifle, a young boy joins the Soviet resistance movement against ruthless German forces and experiences the horrors of World War II.
Directed by Elem Klimov. Starring Aleksey Kravchenko, Olga Mironova, Liubomiras Laucevicius, and Vladas Bagdonas.
This film has a mix of hyperrealism and surrealism that feels like a living nightmares, especially in those moments when it crosses from one to the other and you can't quite tell where you are yet. This is definitely not what you could call an enjoyable movie. It's difficult and unpleasant and at times just horrible to watch, but I think it accomplishes everything it sets out to do. I've seen enough war movies that I often find it too easy to see the strings pulling me to care, but this film broke through that and affected me on a deep emotional level. The use of sound and shots of people looking directly into the camera are especially effective, and 13-year-old Aleksei Kravchenko, who plays the central character, is astonishing in the role, though reading about the making of the film made me uncomfortable with how hard they worked to get that performance out of him, with some rumored techniques being just straight-up abusive. Fortunately he seems to be doing OK these days. That caveat aside, this is a movie I'm glad I saw, even if I couldn't say I liked watching it.
How it entered my Flickchart:
Come and See > Frank
Come and See < Anna Karenina
Come and See > Fantasia 2000
Come and See > Waitress
Come and See > Being There
Come and See < Fear of a Black Hat
Come and See < The Woodsman
Come and See > Hoodwinked!
Come and See > Song of the Sea
Come and See < 42 Up
Come and See > Gone Baby Gone
Final spot: #937 out of 3415, or 73%.
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