Films/DVD Asylum

Posted by Victor Khomenko (i) on May 25, 2001 at 08:24:26

I forewarned my wife... then I put on "Come and See".

She waited for about one full hour. Then she rushed out mumbling: "I need another Pasolini like I need a hole in my head!"

The rest of the film I watched all by myself.

It is a strange film. While I would certainly not say it is the best war movie, it is not without merit. The most obvious purpose of any war movie is to show the horrors, and in this respect the film is a success.

Like with most films that are based in historic events, familiarity with what was happening in Belorussia during the war would be very helpful while watchng this long work. Certain things the director considers a given but they may not be too obvious to a fresh viewer. But what IS obvious is the general flavor of horror and destruction, all the way to the final screen: "629 villages were burned in Belorussia together with all their inhabitants".

Pretty much every review of "Come and See" mentiones that it concentrates on the effect of acts of violance without making the acts themselves the focal point - and I agree. This is the area that is completele absent from the typical Hollywood films (the SPR for instance, is an almost complete opposite...), but also the one that is not all that new and that has been done even more powerfully before. In that respect I would probably put such films as "The Forbidden Games", "The Paths of Glory" and "The Cranes are flying" few steps ahead of this one. But that is not really a bad company to be in... the first three being my personnal nominations for the "Best War Movie of all times" title.

All in all, I am still thinking about it. That in itself is far more than I can say about many, many other films, war or otherwise. To some degree I am still a bit shell shocked and will need some time to contemplate it fully.

Until such time - if you can get your hands on that film, just wait for your wife to go on vacation and watch it. Even if you don't like it it will be a strong experience - I can promise you that much...

As far as my wife - do you think nice flowers will mend the family rift?