This film is currently unavailable
Come and See
Elem Klimov’s final work - and his masterpiece - remains the most horrifying anti-war film ever made.
Director: Elem Klimov
Overview
Set in Nazi-occupied Belarus in 1943, teenager Flyora (Alexei Kravchenko) enthusiastically joins up with the Soviet partisans who have turned up in his village as German soldiers approach. What follows is not a glorified, heroic crusade of good against evil, but a complete immersion into the dehumanizing nightmare of war. Witnessing one atrocity after another, Flyora’s boyish face ages and wrinkles before our eyes, his hair turning grey with shock. Klimov famously used live ammunition on set, which perhaps intensified the look of abject terror on the face of the young actor.
“I heard, as it were the noise of thunder, one of the four beasts saying, Come and see.” With a title inspired by the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, Klimov’s final work – and his masterpiece – is the most horrifying anti-war film ever made. Ranked joint 104th in the 2022 Sight and Sound Great Films of All Time poll
Contains strong violence and Holocaust footageRelated
Kajaki: The True Story Kajaki: The True Story
War 2014 108 mins Director: Paul Katis
A unit of British paratroopers in Afghanistan become caught in a minefield, unable to move or help their injured colleagues, in this unbearably tense thriller.
Das Boot Das Boot
War 1981 149 mins Director: Wolfgang Petersen
Devastatingly powerful, tense and claustrophobic war drama about the final mission of a German U-boat, from heroic start to tragic end.
Ashes and Diamonds Ashes and Diamonds
War 1958 99 mins Director: Andrzej Wajda
Andrzej Wajda’s best-known, visually remarkable film starring Zbigniew Cybulski.
A Generation A Generation
War 1955 85 mins Director: Andrzej Wajda
With gripping set-pieces, Andrzej Wajda’s debut depicts the establishment of a teenage anti-German resistance group.
Kanal Kanal
War 1956 93 mins Director: Andrzej Wajda
Andrzej Wadja’s clammy and nightmarishly claustrophobic depiction of the 1944 Warsaw uprising.
Eastern Condors Eastern Condors
Crime 1987 98 mins Director: Sammo Hung Kam-bo
Sammo Hung directs and stars in this high-kicking tribute to The Dirty Dozen, which sees ten convicts offered amnesty if the undertake a deadly mission behind enemy lines in Vietnam to destroy a top-secret munitions dump
Ghost in the Shell Ghost in the Shell
Animation & Artists Moving Image 1995 83 mins Director: Mamoru Oshii
Mamoru Oshii's beautifully animated and disturbingly prophetic anime classic about the hunt for a supreme hacker in a transhumanist dystopia.
Jeune & jolie Jeune & jolie
Drama 2013 93 mins Director: François Ozon
Francois Ozon’s sly and seductive account of teenage girl’s dalliance with high-class prostitution.
I, Daniel Blake I, Daniel Blake
Drama 2016 100 mins Director: Ken Loach
Ken Loach’s powerful, Palme d’Or-winning invective against welfare injustice captured the mood of modern Britain and became his biggest box office success.
Scum Scum
Drama 1979 97 mins Director: Alan Clarke
Director Alan Clarke examines the grim reality of borstal life in this searing remake of his previously banned television play.
My Favourite Cake My Favourite Cake
Romance 2024 97 mins Director: Maryam Moghadam and Behtash Sanaeeha
Life begins at 70 for Mahin, who decides to shake her life up in this charming, quietly subversive tale from Iran.
The Kindergarten Teacher The Kindergarten Teacher
Drama 2018 97 mins Director: Sara Colangelo
Maggie Gyllenhaal gives a career-best performance as a kindergarten teacher who finds herself in an ethical quagmire after discovering the poetic talents of a precocious student.