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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 footage
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