Come and See (The Criterion Collection) [Blu-ray]

Exceptional Cinematic Masterpiece! Brutal in its depiction of the realities of war. Witness a young man's coming-of-age story, losing his youth and innocence and reduced to the 1000-yard stare. Powerful!

Love it, great movie without the American Hollywood propaganda. The boy acting was amazing, everyone acting was surreal!!

A tragic story of historical reality.

Excellent DVD Series.. No Complaints... I love these old SCIFI programs.. Now I can watch them on my schedule... Not just when they show up on TV!

One of this movies greatest strengths is also it's greatest weakness: it's incredibly surreal.The opening scene is a good indication of what the first two thirds of the movie are like--odd, sort of inhuman characters interacting with each other, and moving the plot forward very, very slowly. It reminds me of the movies that Yorgos Lanthimos would go on to make, where the character are intentionally stiff and strange.This becomes a strength as the movie goes on, because it creates a unique perspective on the action. It's all dream-like, maybe as it would be if you were in a state of shock, like the characters are. The chaos and bloodshed that ensues eventually twists the surreal quality of the movie into something nightmarish, horrific.However, the surrealness of the film is ultimately a weakness, because nothing feels relatable. You never truly care about the characters, because they don't seem like real people. In the third act, we see some absolutely brutal scenes of war... these scenes would be disturbing no matter the context, but their impact falls short of what it could be because the movie doesn't have enough grounding in reality.It's also clear in the end that the director wanted to make a statement about the true horrors of war, because we're shown real photos and videos of some of the atrocities carried out by The Third Reich. This makes me feel even more adamantly that the movie falls short of the impact it wanted to have... if Flyora had seemed like a real person, we could've seen the war through his eyes as if we were truly there. With the film in its current state, it feels like a strange, disturbing dream, which is divorced from our everyday reality.I'll just quickly mention that the cinematography and sound are absolutely incredible. The tightness of the aspect ratio makes even the outdoor scenes feel claustrophobic. The sound and picture make you feel like you're constantly being squeezed, and just don't have room to breathe. Perfect for this film.Overall it's very impressive, and very well made. I don't feel like the surreal approach actually benefitted the movie as much as a more grounded approach would've, but that's my taste. I'd recommend the movie to anyone that can appreciate a slow burn, something that's off the beaten path, and a serious war film.

Some viewers might find some scenes in the movie disturbing.Nazi Germany invaded Belarus in 1943 and did unspeakable things to the Belarussians. Movie centers on teenage boy Flyora Gayshun and teenage girl Glasha as they become trapped in the Holocaust.Aleksey Kravchenko was 15 years old when he portrayed teenage Flyora Gayshun in "Come And See". By the end of the movie, his character looked like he was 40 years old. Horrors of war will do that.Olga Mironova was also a teenager when she portrayed Glasha in "Come And See". It was her Only movie.Aleksey and Olga were brave to participate in this realistic War and Holocaust movie. The scene where they had to Cross a Bog must have been frightening for them. Another scene had Trees being Shredded by Live Bullets, while they took cover.Criterion Collection has a Second Disc of Extras. Director mentioned how they had to Protect the Teenage Actors from "Going Insane" because of the Realistic Portrayal of the War and the Holocaust.Dictators, presidents, rulers, politicians, should all be sent to the front lines in the wars/conflicts that they send their soldiers to.

Great film but just wasn't my cup of tea. Very grimm and dark themes. It's reflective of life especially for the time and that part of the world. If you're looking for something sad and captivating this is it. You can't help but leave filling a bit empty after it. Bitter sweet. Everything else was great.