Come and See

by Elem Klimov is the film I watched this evening. An unrelentlingly grim portrayal of a young Belarusian partisan during WW2. This film contains no heroism, no trivialisation of violence, no notions of honour, no glory - the title comes from the Book of Revelation, and, having been brought up on war films starring John Mills, the pure violence and misery as depicted in this film are shocking, not least because Klimov insisted on using live rounds of ammunition, as far as I can tell, the USSR did not have any particular worries about animal protection (a cow is strafed wih machine gun fire, and a number of horses die), but the most incredible scenes are those involving explosives. There is no huge fireball for Mr Klimov - Hollywood take note - bombs/landmines cause more damage through the force of the explosion, not the fire after. The attack on the partisans' base contains some of the largest explosions I have ever seen on screen - none of the Western Vietnam or WW2 films come close - and Klimov drops the audience into the heart of the action by simulating the protagonists' deafness following the explosion. A truly upsetting, yet utterly compelling film.