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Chickenboy -> RE: What program/film/documentary are you watching now? (6/4/2018 3:09:27 PM)
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Watched Come and See this weekend. Interesting. And worthwhile. But I can't say it's the 'greatest war movie'.
What I thought was well done: The cinematography was well done. Great Belarussian countryside, forests, villages and plains put you in the right frame of mind. Some of the realism was top notch-they used live artillery (!) for the bombardment scenes and real machine guns for some of the scenes-with live rounds. I've never seen a really-o truly-o cow hit by a burst from an MG42 before and die on screen, with the actor comforting the cow during its death throes.
The village scene near the end was terrible to behold, but riveting and well done. Showed the horrible inhumanity treated upon the peasantry and villagers of Bellorussia by the German army and, in particular, the SS / SD. The movie didn't deal with the Einsatzgrupen genocidal pogroms, which I thought curious. If you're going to tell a movie about the pain and agony of Bellorussia in 1943, shouldn't there be at least some reference to this?
What I thought was overdone: The main protagonist was a good actor. The film intended to follow his change from immature adolescent to war-weary and aged young man over a few months. I get it. But the constant facial reaction shots, nonstop crying and wide-eyed forced perspective wore a bit thin. In the end, the overuse of makeup stood out quite prominently.
The seemingly incessant ventures through the mud / into the mud seemed overdone. The last scene with the replay of Hitler's life (in reverse) while Flyora empties a magazine into a portrait of Hitler was formulaic.
The film succeeded in portraying a Hellish landscape under German occupation and portraying war as a dirty, stinky, messy business. I think that's where most of the good reviews from veterans come from. I think Hollywood war movies from the 40's-relatively recently tended to overlook the unpalatable and the unsightly. As an example, I find myself thinking about John Wayne in "The Sands of Iwo Jima". Shot bloodlessly as he ascended Mount Suribachi. Not blown into component pieces in the mud and sand. Not bleeding out on the beach from artillery shrapnel wounds. But dying-heroically as only John Wayne can-while attacking the enemy. "Come and See" had none of that triumphalist nonsense.
This brings up a question in my mind. "What is a war movie"? Does "Schindler's List" count? It's treatment of Schindler's Jews and the concentration camp system was outstanding. But there was little other reference to the war per se. Is a 'war movie' any movie that deals with events surrounding warfare or a particular war? Or does there have to be a significant focus on military struggles?
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