The historical war film, recognized for its harrowing scenes, is universally lauded and described as a must-see.
Discussing it on social media, one person writes: “It is horrifying, accurate, [and] devastating in every sense.”
Another adds: “This isn’t a fun and enjoyable film but it’s a necessary one.”
“One of the most disturbing films I’ve ever seen,” a third says. “This is going to stick with me for a long time, truly a testament to the devasting power of cinema.”
The Soviet anti-war film is primarily based on the 1971 novel ‘Khatyn’ by Ales Adamovich, and the 1977 collection of survivor testimonies in ‘I Am from the Fiery Village.’
Directed by Soviet-Russian director Elem Klimov, who drew on his childhood war experiences, it follows the Nazi-German occupation of Belarus and events witnessed by a teenager called Flyora (played by Aleksei Kravchenko).
The film was shot chronologically, following Flyora as he goes from a carefree boy to a person scarred by atrocities.
In one particularly harrowing 25-minute sequence, dubbed ‘one of the most sickening depictions of wartime’ as per Collider, the young boy is captured by Nazis who hold a gun to his head, forcing him to watch as a whole village is being burnt alive in a church.
Kravchenko, who had a decade-long hiatus from acting after the film, shared that he was treated with respect and seen as “a grown-up person” on set, where he was expected to “work to the sweat of my brow.”
Come and See, which boasts an impressive 96% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes, ranks 41st in Sight and Sound’s Directors’ Poll of the Greatest Films of All Time.
Praising the film, Robert Daniels of The Playlist wrote: “By framing the story through a child’s eyes, Klimov offers a fresh, immediate take on the horrors of war—not through battle-hardened men hollowed out by tragedy, but through an innocent spirit robbed of its purity too soon.”
Matt Brunson from Film Frenzy described it as “one of the most devastating portrayals of conflict ever captured on screen.”
Ken Hanke of Mountain Xpress called it “perhaps the most terrifying, nightmarish film ever made about war.”
On Letterboxd, the popular movie review platform, users have voted it the “highest narrative feature film of all time.”
Kravchenko even revealed he was hypnotized to help him cope with shooting some of the most horrific scenes in the film.
However, per IMDb, he turned out not to be susceptible to hypnosis and had to pretend all the way.
Kilmov told Kravchenko to lose weight for the role as he was too rosy-cheeked and went on an inch diet, where he would only drink water for two days on end along with jogging for hours a day, per a YouTube interview.
Krachenko was even shown footage of Nazi concentration camps by the director to set the tone of the direction of the movie.
In order to make the film seem even more realistic they used actual bullets being fired from weapons during gunfire scenes, live rounds would fly close to the actors.
Many of the characters on screen were played by regular people rather than actors to add to the level of terror.
Klimov described the film as ‘a passionate warning against war.’
