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Come and See
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Come and See

1985
Drama, War
2h 22m
Your probable score
Avg Percentile 80.76% from 2073 total ratings

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(2073)
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Rated 16 Dec 2013
85
94th
One of a kind. Harrowing subject matter presented with a nightmarish intensity and a mastery of film technique.
Rated 05 Jan 2014
9
99th
holy everloving fuck. the entire sequence where the boy went deaf from shelling was beyond description. the audio design was unbelievable. then, the entire sequence with the nazi burning was again utterly horrific. the ending with hitler was clearly a simplistic and hate-fuelled anti-fascist statement on behalf of the soviets, and so it should be. given what preceded it, it was completely earned. insane and incredible. my jaw actually dropped when the nazis were taking their photo.
Rated 16 Jan 2007
57
14th
At first this feels like a Herzog movie, with a surrealness that's eerie and unsettling. But it eventually becomes a sustained chaos. It's difficult to watch, not because the events are so shocking but because it's endless stretches of people running about and screaming and noise and the camera getting right up in everyone's face. The over-acting doesn't help either. I feel like I've been beaten over the head with a 10-ton hammer of propaganda.
Rated 01 Apr 2007
96
99th
A haunting trip through a young boy's coming of age after joining the Russian army in WW2. Camera and sound are both used effectively to give a sense of the confusion the lead goes through, and his change both physically and emotionally throughout the film really brings the point home.
Rated 28 May 2008
90
99th
I saw this around 1987 late one night on channel 4, I was shocked at what I had seen. I never caught the name of the film and have been searching for this film until recently when I got a copy.Its still as shocking and a simply awesome film.
Rated 13 Jul 2012
20
8th
Extreme tragedy befalls a naive young boy who is eager to become a man. He is forced to cope with apololyptic nazi terror that kills his family and neighbors. He narrowly avoids death and insanity. Unfortunately, the story was too focused on displays of nazi atrocities and was disappointingly inadequate at showing its effect on the boy or on others, leaving the story mostly about how ugly and revolting the war was. Do we really need to suffer through that material again and again?
Rated 17 Dec 2006
75
50th
This movie is made up of two relatively distinct parts. The first part is very surreal and unsettling, while the second part is also quite surreal but in the end more of a traditional "war is hell" affair. I prefer the first part by a mile. Not that the "war is hell" stuff isn't impactive, but it gets to be a bit too much of it.
Rated 22 May 2008
75
59th
Visually impressive, especially the surrealist imagery peppered throughout. The "message" is pretty blunt, though, and while seeing images of the horrors of war non-stop for over an hour and half is a pretty powerful experience, it feels kind of repetitive and, ultimately, a bit uninspired.
Rated 23 Jul 2009
93
99th
Genius use of sound, fantastic photography and some truly amazing performances. I challenge any war movie to compare itself to it. My bet is most don't stand a chance.
Rated 31 Aug 2009
65
42nd
Horrifyingly boring.
Rated 08 Jun 2010
92
98th
The insanity and intensity of war has perhaps never been better depicted in fictional form, without really a single actual battle scene. Some of the characterisation is slightly odd, and some of the acting a bit unsubtle, but all doubts are washed away as the more-than-realistic depiction of events overwhelms the viewer with the full meaning of the tragic sweep of mid-twentieth-century history, if not the whole history of Western civilisation and the irreversible nature of the arrow of time.
Rated 11 Mar 2011
4
35th
This film beat me over the head with its obvious message so hard that I can't help but resent this a little bit. The acting sucks but like anything about WW2 it is immediately interesting to me and shocking just because of the subject matter at hand. I feel like people love this more for the fantastic use of music rather than the film making itself, because it ain't that great. Let's show another close up of this kids face again, great...
Rated 24 May 2012
85
94th
The dream-like surrealism, including the almost unbearable soundtrack, make this a unique & incredibly powerful film. The only weakness is the few points where the actions of the occupying German forces -- while basically accurate and based on documented fact -- are portrayed in an almost cartoonish version, which momentarily interrupted the trance the film had me in.
Rated 04 May 2018
95
99th
That's it. I'm in shock. This film has burned its every frame into my brain & I don't think it will ever go away. Praising the technical brilliance of every level of filmmaking would undersell its complete & total poetic integrity. Makes the phrase "war is hell" seem hopelessly optimistic since even hell has some spiritual reason & metaphysical explanation behind it. In the end the causality of all this horror is traced back to a picture of an innocent baby. Then we are lost in the woods.
Rated 02 Oct 2020
90
93rd
The guttural screaming never relents, even past the final frame that cuts just shy of the bright sky. This is an absolute brutalization of the senses. Visual poetry undone by total chaos. Surrealism overwhelmed by real atrocity. A hellscape.
Rated 15 Sep 2021
96
90th
This really is something that has to be seen to be believed. I did feel the pacing in spots, but in the grand scheme of things, that’s a pretty mild complaint. Klimov has crafted what is probably the most anti-war movie ever made, and surprisingly, it doesn’t have to be super bloody to make very uncomfortable, disturbing viewing. The behavior of all of the soldiers really got to me at times, especially the infamous photo scene. Gorgeously filmed and really well acted. Brilliant.
Rated 29 Apr 2009
5
98th
War is hell. Has an underlying surrealistic tone that amplifies the terror and somehow makes it feel even more real. There is enough evil here to make your stomach turn.
Rated 11 Jul 2020
98
99th
The most harrowing and bleak thing i've ever seen, and yet its cinematography makes me want to watch it again.
Rated 14 Feb 2008
85
84th
Incessantly in-your-face like a proper Russian movie. It's a draining experience, but the conclusions it draws in the end are remarkably profound.
Rated 15 Oct 2009
7
80th
Bold, haunting, surreal and visually outstanding. Unfortunately it's also a bit tedious and repetitive. Not so much that I didn't enjoy it, but I think I had high expectations.
Rated 08 Dec 2009
87
93rd
Bone crunching, awe inspiring genius. Absolutely brutal. One of the great war movies.
Rated 03 Jan 2010
93
98th
Awsome acting (both lead kid actors especially), directing and camera work. The movie was extremely realistic and touching and brilliant use of sound. And everything through the eyes of a teenager. Come and see.
Rated 26 Sep 2010
98
98th
I can't count the number of times my jaw dropped. From the content as well as how perfectly and expertly it was put to film.
Rated 27 Nov 2010
87
86th
A hard-hitting film, and I like it better because of that. Things get so heavy, that the film protrude surrealism territory, which makes the horror even more hellish. The ending is terrific, but unfortunately, I think it may be misunderstood by some viewers.
Rated 08 Jan 2011
3
38th
Bleak and dreary, but rather repetitive and dull. While it's powerful in spurts, it doesn't manage to sustain that intensity of feeling for its duration and ends up being a bit of a slog towards the end. And the ending is ridiculously blunt to the point of being laughable. It's also far tamer than I expected. Still, an atmospheric and intermittently tense film - just not the gripping, horrific antiwar statement I had hoped for.
Rated 14 Mar 2012
80
77th
Occasionally powerful, harrowing yet human. Also, far too heavy-handed and disjointed in many frustrating ways.
Rated 19 Jul 2012
75
81st
It was a pretty intense film. Quite different from any other war film I've seen before. I found some scenes to be extremely frustrating. Either because a character wasn't doing something I wanted or the film wasn't. I like that it subverted my expectations though. This feeling was particularly emphasised by the sound design. If you want a pretty visceral war film, I'd recommend this.
Rated 30 Apr 2014
90
97th
Put your dancing shoes on and couple this with Breakin'! No, seriously though, kiss your dreams of life and love goodbye. Ebert's review was perfect: It's said that you can't make an effective anti-war film because war by its nature is exciting, and the end of the film belongs to the survivors. No one would ever make the mistake of saying that about "Come and See." This 1985 film from Russia is one of the most devastating films ever about anything, and in it, the survivors must envy the dead.
Rated 13 Aug 2014
100
97th
What war is: watching a child age before your eyes until he is wizened.
Rated 11 Dec 2015
5
0th
It's extremely rare that I chose to stop watching a movie halfway in regardless of how bad it is. But for this one I had to make an exception. One and a half hour into the movie it had just gotten slower, more pointless, boring and worse than ever before so I had to turn it off to keep my sanity. Unless something completely mind-blowing occurs in the last hour of this movie I cannot for the life of me understand why everyone is giving this unstimulating piece of crap such good reviews.
Rated 22 Sep 2018
55
56th
Veeee yine sözde bir sanat filmi. 14 yaşında bir çocuk yine 50 yaşında gibi davranıyor. Yine sanat sepet diyerek 1 saat göze sokmacı sahneler izliyoruz. Mesajı istediği kadar muhteşem olsun özünde BOK gibi bir film. arkadaşlar üzgünüm hepinizi kumpelsten çıkartıcam gibi duruyor.
Rated 16 Oct 2018
65
40th
Difficult to watch, testing my patience with endless amounts of people yelling and randomly stumbling through the scenery. The complex dialogue was frustrating. The kid is annoying. War is hell, but in this internet age we cannot be shocked anymore so even though the last part is obviously memorable, it is not as impactful as it is supposed to be.
Rated 06 Mar 2020
94
76th
If you hate real animal stuff in movies you won't love when a cow is machine-gunned.
Rated 27 Mar 2020
80
84th
A litany of World War II atrocities as seen through the eyes of a child. It's got several truly staggering sequences of chaos and evil, some virtuoso level camera work, and a superb performance from the kid playing Flor. Unfortunately, there's also many dragging scenes where nothing happens, endless close up shots of people staring into the camera etc. Surprisingly, for a war movie made in Communist-era Soviet Union, it's almost entirely apolitical...it's just about the ugly brutality of war.
Rated 08 Jun 2020
90
93rd
Astounding cinematography and production to be sure, but I was unfortunately taken out of the experience by the audio dubbing constantly. The third act is as harrowing and searing a reminder of the brutality of war and the savagery of men I have ever seen. The constant stares straight at the camera feel like both an indictment of the viewer and a plea for us to remember. The main actor here delivers a performance for the ages.
Rated 06 Mar 2022
86
88th
The slow pacing makes itself too apparent at times, but otherwise this is a powerful invocation of the nightmare of war and fascism. Contrasting surreal straight-on closeups with immersive wandering long takes does a lot to draw the viewer into the horror. And I think it earns the right to be unsubtle due to the sheer power of some of its sequences (the bombing! the return to the village! the fire! the ending!) I can only imagine how dangerous this was to make. A haunting experience.
Rated 27 Apr 2008
70
41st
Compelling and emotionally draining. I just hope the kid was all right after what the filmmakers put him through.
Rated 05 Mar 2009
57
26th
Wonderful film technique augments this remembrance of a painful past.
Rated 12 Jul 2009
90
91st
A very, very solid contemplation on war, loss of innocence, and humanity. Klimov's directing style forces the viewer to be constantly analyzing their own actions and motivations, or lack thereof. Very contemplative filmmaking.
Rated 04 Oct 2010
90
95th
Mandatory viewing for anybody who claims to like "war movies".
Rated 29 Nov 2010
79
83rd
Visually stunning and packed with intensity. And there's some interesting symbolism and themes as well. The usual coming-of-age theme of exploring life is neatly juxtaposed with the need for escapistic fantasy when faced with the crualties of war. It's like a surrealistic horror version of Empire of the Sun which deals with similar themes.
Rated 29 Jul 2011
95
99th
Had to sit on the floor to watch this.
Rated 25 Mar 2012
85
87th
More horror than a war film, Come and See is unrelenting in its brutality. Klimov gets an impressive performance from the young Kravchenko, whose terror-filled face is basically a theme on its own.
Rated 02 Apr 2012
85
90th
War is hell is surrealism on crack is horror.
Rated 02 May 2012
90
84th
Pure total horror.
Rated 24 Aug 2012
68
24th
Despite several moments of greatness (nearly all of which occur in the first half), the film lacks the fortitude to carry itself over 130 minutes, and it eventually buckles under it's own weight. The early section is a unique and personal look at war through the eyes a child with some stunning and effective imagery. Slowly it transforms into a manipulative, shallow, one-note propaganda piece. I suspect the first half will stay on my mind for a while, but I'll try to forget the second half.
Rated 31 Aug 2012
27
10th
It kind of reminded me of Utvandrarna and Nybyggarna but much worse, I guess it's the visuals and use of sound that connects them... I wasn't particularly impressed, I had high expectations and it was much of a bore - the explosions were cool but I didn't find much more else to like.
Rated 03 Dec 2014
95
98th
There are few movie experiences as horrifying, despairing and soul crushing as this
Rated 03 Oct 2016
93
98th
Such a haunting movie. Score, shooting, effects, acting, script, all excellent.
Rated 16 Dec 2017
10
96th
goddamn
Rated 27 Jul 2018
84
87th
A very unusual war movie. Instead of the typical frantic editing, here the focus is on long takes and close-ups that magnify the psychological distress of the characters. There's no attempt at showing heroism, only people who have to cope with extreme situations. It could be considered highly realistic in what it chooses to depict, but Klimov opts for a surrealist-like direction at times.
Rated 25 Jul 2019
95
98th
The question is not / how does one writes poetry after the war / but rather/ how are there wars after poetry.
Rated 20 Apr 2020
90
91st
One of the most relentlessly unglamorous films I think I've ever seen. You literally watch the horror on the main characters face a bunch of times. The content is absolutely brutal on many occasions, and the way it's put together--the directing, the shot composition, the ominous skies, the music choices, the dissonant sounds, etc--is legit horrifying. Can a person really enjoy this movie in a conventional sense? I certainly wouldn't recommend it to more casual fans. But it's brilliant.
Rated 10 Aug 2020
100
97th
Hey Hollywood, this is what "raw" and "honest" war movies should look like. None of your sad music "Help me, I just killed someone" melodrama. Having the single best child performance in a movie ever also helps.
Rated 12 Aug 2020
84
75th
Brutal and unsettling. Beautifully shot with exquisite sound design. I'm especially sensitive to "bad stuff happening to children" or "bad stuff happening at the hands of Nazis," but the film elides most of the actual violence to individuals. But the "breaking the fourth wall close ups" draw us into the lives of these characters with startling intensity. I found the Hitler-y ending way too on the nose.
Rated 08 Oct 2020
90
90th
The unforgiving tragedies occupied by war become so brutally poetic here. Relentless, one is unable to shy away from it's tormenting portrait. Illusive is the light dancing around with screams and dark, unimaginable elements, hinting at the fact this is still just cinema on screen - a deep, deep horror lies beneath.
Rated 22 Feb 2021
88
88th
The epitome of that classic phrase: War is Horrid.
Rated 20 Jan 2022
85
91st
Disturbingly cruel.
Rated 12 Jun 2022
100
99th
Gut-wrenching and heart-rending. It's almost impossible to believe Aleksey Kravchenko could give this performance at 16 with no prior acting experience. Staggeringly assembled at every level. This is essential cinema and should be considered required viewing.
Rated 01 Mar 2008
80
68th
# 391
Rated 23 Sep 2008
75
79th
I need to rewatch it
Rated 19 Dec 2008
82
64th
357
Rated 27 Mar 2009
80
90th
nice movie
Rated 14 Apr 2009
90
72nd
The first half has issues with pacing and can sometimes be a chore to watch. The second half, however, is so unrelenting, so powerful, and so harrowing that it more than makes up for the problems the film otherwise has.
Rated 13 Jan 2010
84
68th
312
Rated 26 Feb 2010
80
46th
Propaganda or not, Come and See is a perfect display of audience manipulation in film, with the right mix of surreal overtones, disturbing visuals and brutal violence, Come and See plays with the viewer like few other films do. It's heavy, it's at times just too much, but it's always gut-wrenchingly intense. Come and See is a film more to be admired as an effort to impact the audience effectively rather than a traditionally entertaining yarn regarding war and its atrocities.
Rated 23 Jul 2010
100
98th
I wasn't the same for days after I saw this. Beautifully crafted and very realistic.
Rated 26 Jul 2010
90
92nd
Devastatingly realistic.
Rated 08 Oct 2010
85
90th
Brutal.
Rated 02 Jan 2011
90
98th
Penetrating, brutal, without hope.
Rated 06 Apr 2011
90
75th
it's a film, best movie i've ever seen about the war.
Rated 17 Apr 2011
98
99th
Beautiful filmed. Harrowingly war crimes shown.
Rated 30 Nov 2011
85
70th
#300
Rated 17 Apr 2012
86
94th
There were a few parts that dragged a bit for me, but they don't detract much from an overall superb movie. This is one of the few movies that I'd very readily call "gritty." Everything devolves into grime and misery very quickly, and just when you think things can't possibly get any worse, they get a lot worse.
Rated 18 Apr 2012
70
42nd
II. dünya savasi, nazi, almanya, rusya, beyaz rusya, köy yakma, cocuk asker, aileyi katletme, (hikayenin baslamasi uzun sürdü, cok agir görüntüler vardi. yanan adamin konusmasi gibi)
Rated 29 May 2012
100
97th
Unforgettable.
Rated 02 Jul 2012
80
78th
Top badass moment? I'm not sure about this film, but anyone who lived through the sort of things depicted in it and managed to keep a sense of proportion in their lives afterwards, is totally badass. 0 cats and 0 decapitations.
Rated 10 Jul 2012
70
75th
Bad close-up (and some other camera tricks) and a very exaggerated style even excessing irony.
Rated 20 Jul 2012
10
95th
Absolutely stunning -- captures the brutality, senselessness, and confusion of war quite well. Loved the almost surreal tone the whole film has, as well. Easily one of my favorite WW2 movies.
Rated 03 Feb 2013
90
77th
Be ready to be taken under a psychological torment by Klimov's constant close-ups to the faces of characters who are looking directly at you (as in Tarantino's "Inglorious Basterds" Lt. Raine's shooting angle while he carves a swastika on the foreheads of nazis) as a gun pointed towards their head by the ruthless SS soldiers or beaten down by the rapists. Throughout the film an expectation of 'catastrophe' and a feeling of guilt never leaves you.
Rated 07 Mar 2013
71
54th
There's certainly some greatness to this and the ending is an almost transcedental (God I hate using that word) one-two-punch. But I found myself nodding off during the second half way more than I liked, though the first part with the almost magical overtones is great as they come. Fun fact that I just totally made up: This may contain the first incidence of an FPS-style sequence in a movie, though it contains absolutely no shooting now that I think about it...
Rated 08 Apr 2013
97
95th
Relentlessly matter-of-fact steady cam shots reveal the brute face of war.
Rated 27 Nov 2013
94
98th
War has never been portrayed more brutal than what it is in Klimov's Come and See.
Rated 06 Jan 2014
95
83rd
It's beautiful solid camerawork and good choice of music to go with it-setting the right mood. BUT I wasn't impressed by the script-work and in terms of the acting I was also quiet disappointed. Although the two main characters, especially the boy (Florya), stepped up their game in the last part. I get the whole "learn-it-the-hard-way-Boy-to-Man-transformation" but just not a outstanding masterpiece in my opinion. Seems like it gets a few cheap (critic)points for its brutality and explicitly.
Rated 27 Jan 2014
75
72nd
Bleak and disturbing in an almost over-the-top operatic fashion, "Idi i Smotri" ranks alongside "Apocalypse Now" as one of the most unsettling depictions of war ever produced. Impeccably directed, emotionally impactful and with a Mozart soundtrack too, it nevertheless becomes a monotonous and near-punishing experience; 143 minutes of torture and pain and one-note characterizations -and with the moral made plain from the start- can be (despite a handful of brilliant sequences) kinda draining.
Rated 25 Mar 2014
96
96th
an unforgettable recreation of a child's wartime experiences. gripping from beginning to end.....
Rated 12 Jan 2016
95
99th
Que filme, amigos!
Rated 19 Jan 2016
90
98th
Best war movie ever made.
Rated 20 Jan 2016
66
49th
ps75
Rated 25 Feb 2017
95
95th
both incredible and more nauseating than watching ISIS footage
Rated 28 Mar 2018
70
75th
A film of very striking imagery, such that approaches the subject of total war in roundabout, original ways. At times it is exaggerated and grotesque for dramatic effect, but it all feels warranted within the film's logic. The centrality Klimov gives to sound and image is something to appreciate. With regard to the narrative, while intelligently depicting the emotions stirred in its characters, its emotional effect on the viewer is not quite as strong.
Rated 14 Apr 2018
100
94th
Harrowing.
Rated 20 Apr 2018
75
47th
This film certainly succeeds in many ways, but it is way too self-indulgent for my taste. It takes suffering to the extremes where you actually start to enjoy it, like many people in fact enjoy weeping (or Holocaust movies). I always felt uncomfortable watching this kind of movies, and guilty afterwards, for having kind of enjoyed it. Come and See needs a bucket of ice cold water thrown in its face to sober up a bit.
Rated 16 May 2018
90
88th
Apocalypse now equivqlence of Russia.
Rated 26 Feb 2019
75
63rd
Love or hate, kind of boring but well made
Rated 20 Mar 2019
75
74th
Had been waiting to see this for 10+ years, so I guess it was inevitable that it would be a little bit of a disappointment. Still really good, but too long.
Rated 11 May 2019
99
94th
The best Pink Floyd music video.
Rated 02 Jan 2020
99
99th
A
Rated 09 May 2020
77
16th
Gel gör beni, savaş neyledi
Rated 26 Sep 2020
84
92nd
There are some impressive moments (the burning, the first bombing experience), with great direction and photography. Still, there are other moments that stylistically try to portray the emotions in a very amplified way (specially through acting, edition and soundtrack), this moments look excessive. Even so, the story is incredibly powerful and the good moments make it a great movie.

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