Come and See: The Best Movie Ever Made

[@johnjones5220]

I'm just really happy to see this film getting the praise it deserves. This film changed me.

[@chaseazarian]

Glad it had the same impact on you as well John!

[@swordfish7165]

Long been in my Top 10.

[@jensheekey5641]

Same ive never seen anything to match it, its Haunting 💔

[@Nurkomusic]

Not to give too much away, but the way this film uses sounds to such a strong effect. the scene of the village woman almost ritualistically collectively singing their morning mixed with whaling for the tragedy that just happened after he just discovered what happened to his family and the village was absolutely haunting and so heartbreaking, it sticks to me to this day.

[@konstantinborus5458]

Great review! I saw the film in 1985 in Soviet Union and a whole movie theater was quiet when it ended. And we all left it in silence. We Russians know the horrors of the war. We watched a lot of documentaries which will be censored now days. Plus every family in Soviet Union was affected by great war. But still this film struck us very hard. I think the title "Come and see" doesn't translate right meaning from Russian. It sounds more like "Walk and watch" in Russian.

[@chaseazarian]

Thanks for the comment Konstantin! Couldn't even imagine what that original theater experience could have possibly felt like...

[@eckhardt76]

Regarding your comment " We Russians know the horrors of war " I think your people have forgotten since you let your dictator inflict the very same horrors on the Ukrainians.

[@konstantinborus5458]

@@eckhardt76 I am Russian but not from Russian Federation. And I know without you what is going on. Grow up not every Russian is a murderer.

[@Hamishccr231]

@@eckhardt76 you really think that because putin is at war with ukraine it just cancelles out the 27 million deaths and countless rapings the soviet union suffered in ww2? You're an actual clown.

[@annanikolaeva8476]

​@@eckhardt76 I am Russian, from the Russian Federation, and I would tell you: we have NOT forgotten ANYTHING. I could tell you something about the military operation in Ukraine, about "very same horror" (and whose hands are doing it). But, judging by your remark, it's pointless. You think by the headlines of the West mass-media so in fact you know mostly nothing about this conflict. Not a problem, the truth will be known sooner or later. And yes, Russians know the horrors of war. So annoying... in discussing such a wonderful film, you can't refrain from political debates. Perhaps you haven't got the main idea of this film.

[@nm93932]

I saw it when I was in High School and I thought it was the best war movie. You feel as if you are living the war along with the main character. When the movie started, it was all happy and he looked young. By the end of the movie, the look of terror in his eyes were visible, and the toll of war could also be seen in his drastically aged look. Good movie. Hopefully you can also look at The night of the shooting stars, an Italian movie about ww2 as well. Amazing review!!!

[@1jake2ful]

I think it’s a phenomenal film in how accurate it really is based on the book I come from a village on fire, it’s criminal how underrated this movie is

[@albogypsy2842]

It was a hell of a movie... quite literally.

[@chaseazarian]

Couldn’t have said it better myself^

[@GETitHOWuLIVit]

I agree with your analysis of the movie, and especially about the cut in the middle of the film; I watched it for the first time a week ago and that image still haunts me. Something you didn't talk about so much however is the sound. Klimov was born in Stalingrad and was evacuated with his mother during the seige, which inspired him to make this film. What he does with sound: he get's PTSD right. Cinema Cartography does a good video on this but it doesn't do it justice. I have PTSD, I've had it since childhood. My older brother was in a gang, and a number of things happened because of it. The police raided our house a number of times growing up, the swat team came to our house once and there was a day long standoff, I've seen things that frankly I can't describe to you adequately. When you're triggered by that sort of trauma you hear EVERYTHING. I actually relate a lot now to autistic friends who have sensory issues due to hypersensetive hearing. You hear every little thing until the noise becomes so deafening that it's just ringing, ringing and you could do almost anything to make it stop. I'm sure Klimov understood this, and it's reflected in the film. The way he edits, focusing on a single person's perspective, only reinforces this experience. That scene at the village is the worst because it is truly the loss of innocence, during everything that happens afterwards Floria is driven to fight to make amends for that moment all the way to the climax of the film. I've seen those images of the Holocaust so many times before, they're quite famous, and yet I've never been affected by them like the way they were used in this film. I think that's because, if you watch the film right, loud enough and without pause or distractions, the tension and emotion and fear is so palpable to the viewer and the viewer is so immersed in the world of the film it gives you the experience of seeing these atrocities in person, and, yes, it cements the fact that the history explored in this film actually happened and people really lived through it. If you want to make a film of this calibre and maybe change the world then hit me up; there's something I've been wanting to do.

[@Warloo100]

A monster of a movie! Hard to bear. Excellent review.

[@chaseazarian]

Appreciate it Robby!

[@richardherbst8081]

This masterpiece will be a masterpiece in 20/30 years and beyond. It does NOT look like anything out there. This film haunts and scares because it really happened and this depiction is showing us that the horrors of war and the depravity of some people is just that .....real.

[@mattckwilliams]

I watched Come and See for the first time a few days ago. Having studied the Eastern Front, and read a tonne of literature on it, only Come and See comes close to depicting just how barbaric, grim, depraved and brutal the war between the Soviets and the Nazis really was. It also captured an indescribable feeling of the inhumanity and forces at play and it is utterly terrifying (the words ‘evil’ and ‘horror’ aren’t enough to really describe it). 1/4 of Belarus’s population died in World War 2, but this brutality was extended to Russia, Ukraine and Poland and beyond. The Pianist and Schindler’s List are perfect movies about the Holocaust and the Eastern Front but they have stories of hope amidst the hopelessness and horrors of World War 2. Maybe Stalingrad, another movie made in 1980s comes close but Come and See is still better. For most people on the Eastern Front, there was no happy ending, there were no heroes, there was no one to save the day, there was no saving grace to the war that took place. You just suffered or died and even if you survived, you were irrevocably changed. Cities were wiped off the face of map, tens of millions died, lost their homes, were deported, raped or sent to gulags or concentrations camps. Most perpetrators actually got away with their crimes. If you weren’t liquidated by Nazism and the SS you were likely to be crushed by Stalin and the NKVD (who also killed tens of millions of people). Come and See displays all of these vast ideas and themes at play in the most chilling possible way. The audience get a taste of what the Eastern Front felt like, and we’re still only scratching the surface. That’s why it’s in my top 3 movies of all time now.

[@hyun-kookchoi6349]

I’ve seen come and see in cinema upon release in the 80s when I was a teenager and I will never forget that experience. For decades I’m telling people the best (war) movie ever made would be come and see, but nobody (actually really nobody) ever heard of the film. I’m glad that it finally gets the recognition it deserves and gets discovered by more and more people; as of now, it sits on the top spot of letterboxd. And you are right, this is the movie every other war movie has to stand up against. SPR for example: The landing scene ist actually an action sequence - although well executed it screams look how well i’m staged. And the core of the story well it’s not really clear what that is. Ryan made something out of his live so the people risking their lives for saving one soldier, just because his brothers got killed, makes it worth it? Or the act of revenge Upham killing the german soldier he spared before, does that redeem something? In comparison, these motifs appear measly to what come and see has to say.

[@janasheehan]

i agree with your video commentary on pretty much all counts. just rewatched come and see last night with my husband. saw it the first time when it came out. i was 17… basically, it took me nearly 40 years feel ready to watch it again.

[@RJ_MacReady13]

You got a new subscription! Amazing review. Come and See is an absolute masterpiece, although the most disturbing and scary film I've ever seen, extremely hard to watch and makes any other movie pale in comparison. Your opinion is pretty much mine, the use of sight and sound in Come and See is just so great that it really looks and feels like a slow descent into hell

[@noheroespublishing1907]

Klimov may not have had a large filmography, but, Cervantes doesn't have that many written books; yet he is considered on the level of Shakespeare.

[@chaseazarian]

Well put^. A master of the craft.

[@ElwoodShort]

I think the Spanish love Cervantes even more than the English love Shakespeare. But great though Shakespeare was, Cervantes CHANGED fiction. If as many people who saw 'saving private ryan' , for example, had seen 'Come and See;... think what it could have changed. incredible story incredibly told, yet horrifying beyond any horror movie i have ever seen.

[@mojobag01]

And Cervantes has better jokes.

[@kalebthehistorian5928]

Today, I had a talk with a friend, whose relative LITERALLY went through what this film portrays. This same relative never had children because of what he experienced.

[@talesfromthetrip]

Just watched it last night, it's hard to put into words how I feel.

[@BadBoy65t]

It’s a film you have to let marinate in your mind for a few months

[@michaelbruns449]

Stunning and haunting...Mesmerizing and terrifying...Faith shattering and brutal... Paths Of Glory - 1957 is actually just as intense and powerful in its own way. As well as the opening beach landing sequence from Saving Private Ryan thats also just as shocking and horrifying.

[@nriab23]

Thank you so much much for introducing me to this movie. I'm indebted to you.

[@Romir0s]

Now watch "City of Life and Death". Like, "Saving private Ryan" is a view of Western front. "Come and See" is a view of what was happening in Eastern front. And now try to see what was happening in China in a same time period.

[@chaseazarian]

Added to the watchlist^

[@johnottr]

For years whenever someone would ask me what the best war movies are, I always said, Come and See, and Paths of Glory.

[@bearhead9633]

I dont know about "the best movie". I would say the most intense, horrific, realistic, disturbing movie I have ever seen.

[@georgeorr1042]

It stays with you. Certainly one of the best. I like how you say that “favorite” and “best” are different. My favorite film is “Picnic At Hanging Rock” (1975); which most people haven’t seen.

[@TheSwasi]

What still surprises me is that it is only now that America has become aware of this film. The film was shot in 1985 and I saw it then and now again after almost 40 years. But it is only now that people in America are reacting to this film. In my opinion, this movie doesn't fit into any category because it's not a fantasy horror, it's not a war hero movie because it reflects the reality of the world war. The Belarusian village is representative of many villages around the world. Oradour sur Glane in France, Lidice in the Czech Republic, My Lai in Vietnam, Bucha in Ukraine

[@BadBoy65t]

It’s the most effective anti-war film ever

[@satirusgs2450]

Я сомневаюсь, что пример с Бучей корректный. Советую ознакомиться с историей Хатыни, это одна из тысяч белорусских деревень, население которой было практически полностью уничтожено, Хатынь носит символический характер, поскольку все жители, дети, женщины, старики были уничтожены, для удешевления процедуры геноцида немцы для того, что бы не тратить патроны сгоняли людей в большие деревянные помещения и сжигали их заживо, тех, кто в агонии пытался выпрыгнуть в окно расстреливали, всех убили, за исключением одного единственного свидетеля, от деревни остались только остовы печей, которые стоят до сих пор. Как с этим можно проводить паралель с событиями в Буче? Ирония заключается в том, что в уничтожении Хатыни участвовали украинские националисты, этот момент показан в фильме, но я сомневаюсь, что это можно понять с английской локализацией фильма. Я не буду говорить о сомнительности доказательств касательно событий в Буче, потому как это само собой разумеющееся, чем то напоминает "Катынское расследование"

[@mrchapsnap]

"The most terrifying film I've ever seen and it's not even close" Threads. Now watch Threads.

[@crackajack913]

In the past 48 hours I've watched Come and See, Threads, and The Man Behind the Sun. It's been a pretty heavy couple days...

[@nicolelawless9942]

@@crackajack913 I didn’t say a word 48 hours after watching Come and See last month. A month later and I’m still recovering from the PTSD from the movie

[@doctorsnicklefritz]

YES! Not enough people talk about Threads. Definitely one of the few films I’d call “essential cinema”.

[@jameshall401]

I wouldn't say Threads was as disturbing, but man it was effective and haunting

[@jameshall401]

@@crackajack913 Yeesh, Men Behind the Sun was one of the most revolting films I've ever seen, it is the only movie that has made me severely nauseous watching

[@joeharris3878]

Come and See the all-time best movie? Can't argue with that.

[@adityasunil1562]

Lovely review my guy! Followed you on letterboxd and found your channel! Great work👍👍

[@chaseazarian]

Appreciate you!

[@youenbodenan7295]

The horror of the movie is its restraint. None of the deaths hapen on camera. None, its all left to the imagination, and oh boy, those are things you don't want to imagine.

[@puterboy2]

Flyora's character arc really put me on in a flood of tears, because you really want to stop him from joining the partisans. I wonder if he would make good friends with Jamie from Empire of the Sun…

[@vik.1903]

I don't think that the images he showed at the end are meant to say: "This was worse/this was better". Firstly, because that's simply not true and it's absolutely not the point of the film. I think the reason he used those images was to say: "This happened. Everything that you just witnessed, actually happened. This isn't fiction." With that said, great video!

[@anarollec]

in his interview about come ans see klimov said we only showed 80% of the truth bcoz 100% would be impossible to watch... great review ... thank you

[@nathantower5565]

I think what makes Come and See a real anti war film is that it's not really about soldiers fighting soldiers. It's about the real horror of war that happens when civilians are left at the mercy of a foreign military which is far more common than you think. Civilian casualties almost double the amount of military casualties in world war 2.

[@johnnycolorado5481]

The right time, the right director,the right actor, the perfect war movie, unexplainable atrocity captured, this film will change you.

[@robertlevine2827]

Your points about the importance of detail and of everything advancing the plot come together in the cut to the pile of executed corpses on the side of the house. Looking back to the immediately preceding scene inside the house, we realize they are the reason for the flies around the dinner table--not because the potatoes or whatever they were on the table were rotten--and that Glasha probably vomited after her two spoonfuls of soup because of their smell, which I guess Fliora, because they're his family, pretends to ignore or blocks out in his denial, the initial stage of grief.

[@ckotcher1]

This brilliance of this movie lies in its realism and its simplicity. The same year another brilliant war movie, same war, same time period, different location came out: Empire of the sun. It was a phenomenal movie by Steven Spielberg starring a young Christian Bale, in my opinion his best performance. This film is the Antithesis of “Empire”and imo a much better movie. Empire is shot in the usual Spielberg fashion good character development and execution excellent over the top cinematography. But: Come and see said a lot more without having to say much at all. Everything was there right in your face The boy gave such an outstanding performance because he wasn’t some cookie cutter teen idol. He was a real kid and sometimes you forget your even watching a movie at all. He goes from being a carefree boy eager to join the war effort to a man who ages from the horrors he’s seen. And we get an up close view of his poor weathered face and stunned expression/loss of innocence. If you watch closely the boy ages, wrinkles on his forehead and around his mouth, and his hair turns white in patches. This wasn’t makeup, his hair really did start to turn white in areas from the stress . It’s a brilliant understated film that stays with you forever.

[@gilgamesh310]

Have you seen Threads? It’s about nuclear war and very similar in tone to this, only it’s even more hard hitting. They both present the very brutal truth of war, but Threads shows just how much worse the aftermath of nuclear war is to that that occurs in a conventional war. I’m not sure if I’d say it’s the better film overall, but they’re both two of the most impactful films I’ve ever seen.

[@javlonjuraev6328]

Humanity is STILL that evil - evil lives inside each of us. The point of this film is to put a mirror in front of us - make us ask hard questions, the main of which "Can I become that evil under certain circumstances?"

[@stephencrabtree3161]

Your right - nothing comes close. It’s not the most disturbing film I’ve seen ( that would be the Snowtown Murders), but it’s in a class of its own artistically and emotionally. Oh, and it’s free on YT as well 👍

[@averageXIAOHONGSHUenjoyer]

the three most pivotal pieces of cinematrographic art i ve seen are "come and see", "jagal - the act of killing" and " the embrace of the serpent". funny thing: the stories are connected

[@atmosphericjubilancy]

First watch was 2 months ago. Second watch was a month and a half ago. I want but don't want to watch again. Unbelievable movie. So disturbing. So important

[@blakeray9856]

It is jarring for me to hear "Come and See" mentioned in the same breath as a silly movie such as "Hereditary." "Come and See" is a great movie because of the importance of its subject matter, and the refusal on the part of Klimov to sentimentalize or glamorize any aspect of war. He also provides no simplistic moralizing, no easy answers, no "satisfying resolution," and he doesn't tell the viewer how to feel. It is not some silly costume drama; nothing is dumbed down for the viewer more accustomed to watching superhero movies, and it is not a vehicle for celebrity movie stars. Of course, a tremendously skillful use is made of camera work and editing, but it serves a high purpose, and it is that wise, honest high purpose and its realization that makes the movie great. There is also a genius eye, on the part of Klimov, for "the telling detail" and for casting and character portrayal. In short, this movie is not entertainment, it is a harrowing communication of the truth of war. It is a work of art that conveys something true.

[@djmetsi4225]

dazed and confused is my favorite film so as soon as i heard that i had to subscribe

[@sweetnightmares2498]

This is the most harrowing, genuinely anti-war film ever made. I class it as a horror film because I can't bring myself to experience that journey more than once.

[@zeezee9670]

@02:33 _Even though you should chase perfection, don't expect anything to come outr perfect._ Agreed. Pefection, like Idealism, unachievable & inhuman. I see perfection as a mere *benchmark* we strive to uphold & measure against, not hoping to achieve but secure that *we at least don't succumb to the darkest pits in the name of realism.*

[@evansomething]

Couldn't agree more with you. If you haven't seen the movie City of life and death, I highly recommend it. Along with come and see, they're the most brutal war movies I've ever seen without any romanticization of war

[@nocturne7371]

Come and See is alongside Das Boot the best and most realistic war movie I have ever seen.

[@SK-ut6tw]

I'm amazed people are just discovering this movie.

[@mojobag01]

This is the only one of my Top Ten Movies (we call them films) that I DO NOT recommend.

[@dmtdreamz7706]

On a certain level, we have a drug store in our brain, the neurochemicals that show up in flow: so dopamine, norepinephrine, anandamide, endorphins, and serotonin. If you were to try to cocktail the street drug version of that, right, you're trying to blend like heroin and speed and coke and acid and weed- and point is, you can't do it. It turns out the brain can cocktail all of 'em at once, which is why people will prefer flow to almost any experience on Earth. It's our favorite experience. It's the most addictive experience on Earth. Why? 'Cause it cocktails five or six of the largest pleasure drugs the brain can produce. We're all capable of so much more than we know. That is a commonality across the board. And one of the big reasons is we're all hardwired for flow, and flow is a massive amplification of what's possible for ourselves.

[@steve-852]

What are your comparative thoughts on Das Boot?

[@livianegidius9772]

Yep saw it twice . Most accurate depition of WW2 in eastern and southwest Europe ever Im proud serbian woman whos ancestors fought i n WW2 with partisan movement and thatş exacly what happened in Serbia as in Belorusia . Not for faint harted western public

[@errwhattheflip]

Come and See is such a brilliant movie. Disturbing as all hell, but basically perfect. I wouldn't say it's the best, but definitely brilliant nonetheless.

[@GutterInternational]

The film is on KZbin now

[@georgebutters4110]

Without a doubt, the most moving and memorable film made. It demonstrates that hell exists on earth. It`s just a tragedy that Putin is doing something I don`t understand that corresponds to the reification represented.

[@chrislondo2683]

I bet Thin Red Line is one of the other war movies that Come and See makes look like a joke.

[@brunoactis1104]

Man, only in a non capitalist system can you make stuff like this, with creative freedom and no profit objective. Sam for Tarkovsky's films.

[@StoneColdSour]

Fighting the Soviet censorship has to be easier then fighting Hollywood executives

[@andydufresnefromshawshank5866]

Despite how much I love this film, I think Schindler‘s list is the best film ever made. I think that is one out of 2 movies that I think are perfect. The other being 12 Angry Men

[@gew43]

i disagree but films are subjective

[@daytimecloudsurfer]

it's good to remember the history of fascism and why we still fight it worldwide ✊

[@natalianat5736]

Absolutely agree

[@davidkelly3751]

Certainly, the best horror film, even when it is not of that genre.

[@rogerwickstrom3459]

This film !! Oscar staty !! Häl.Finland

[@satirusgs2450]

В ребенка не стреляли настоящими пулями, иначе он был бы мертв как корова, которую убили реальными пулями. Несмотря на то, что фильм был снят в моей стране, я не советую его смотреть впечатлительным людям, коим я не являюсь, но посмотрев его я впал в апатию на несколько часов. Моя страна потеряла за время этой войны треть населения и мы до сих пор помним что такое война и чтим подвиг предков, который привнесли в победу огромный вклад, но запад так не считает. Мне грустно смотреть на то как люди с запада говорят о том, что в той войне одержали победу союзники и США (в лучшем случае), для вас это просто какое то случайное событие, как плохая шутка, о которой или не знают, о которой хотят забыть, я не испытываю злости или смеха, мне грустно от того, что люди не имеют понятия, что происходило на восточном фронте, когда из человеческой плоти делали мыло для немецких магазинчиков, когда матери заставляли есть своих детей плоть умерших братьев и сестёр, для того что бы они не умерли от голода в блокадных городах, когда человеческая жизнь не стоила буквально ничего, она стоила как несколько грамм золота в твоих зубах, за которые тебя стоит застрелить и выдрать эти зубы. В послевоенное время в учебных классах было по 2-3 учащихся, потому как СССР пережило колоссальную демографическую яму, я сомневаюсь, что народ, который пережил все эти ужасы хотел нападать на Европу или Америку, так же как и сейчас...

[@alvinhugosson6911]

really is the best movie!

[@trevorj3838]

its so far from the best movie ever, average ID say

[@gotherecom]

We STILL don't know why this is your choice for Best Film. Your random thoughts do not a film review make.

[@antigoneoedipus7037]

Сытый голодного не разумеет( русская поговорка)