COME AND SEE (IDI I SMOTRI)

COME AND SEE (IDI I SMOTRI), 1985, Janus Films, 140 min. Dir. Elem Klimov. Its title drawn from a chilling passage in the Book of Revelation, this nightmarish, fact-based WWII drama is told through the eyes of 14-year-old Florya (Aleksey Kravchenko), a Belarusian boy eager to join the fight against Nazi invaders. But Florya’s dreams of heroics are quickly replaced by the litany of horrors he witnesses from the moment he joins the army to the film’s unforgettable conclusion. “One of the most devastating films ever about anything. … I have rarely seen a film more ruthless in its depiction of human evil.” – Roger Ebert. In Belarusian, Russian and German with English subtitles.