1. Come and See (1985)
What can I say about this one...a film that leaves you devastated...a film after watching, you grasp for reality and optimism but to no avail. One of the most ruthless films ever made and Elem Klimov decided not to make another after this one. Why should you, when you've already given everything you can and in one film? The direction, the score and the effects might be the most realistic I've ever seen. Some say, the stuff shown are exaggerated .I don't buy that. Adamovich and Klimov wrote from their own experiences and at the end, a fact is shown about the number of villages that were actually burned during the war and that cuts off the question of exaggeration. Every scene is a difficult experience. Florya's disappointment for not being able to join the partisans, his inability to accept the death of his family, his riding through the swamp to make it all go away, the dying man's words, the dead cow (the cow was really killed in this scene), the burning of the church...all leaves a harrowing effect. And what to say about the last scene? Director's cry out against all wars? Who knows what he really meant by reeling back history in such manner? I perceive it as director's way of showing the world how it could all have been stopped; but of course he couldn't drown to the level where he would kill babies, even if the baby Hitler! I must repeat, a devastating movie experience. That should do it for today? What do you readers think? Have I got it wrong judging Saving Private Ryan in that way? Whatever you guys think, don't miss out on the aforementioned ones.