Come and See (The Criterion Collection) [Blu-ray]

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Sourced from a 2K digital restoration by Mosfilm, this transfer makes Come and See’s stark color palette pop with a sharpness of detail that only compounds the film’s bleak atmosphere. Deakins lists Come and See as one of his favourite films and he explains why he is so awe-struck by the film’s visuals and framing and how it has inspired him, really gushing over it and its use of the Academy ratio and the Steadicam in a few shots. In archival interviews from 2001, Elem Klimov, actor Alexei Kravchenko, and production designer Viktor Petrov discuss the grueling experience of making the film. This is one of the all-time great movies in the genre and nothing has ever been matched to this still to this day.

The strength of the film, however, isn't in its ability to brilliantly recreate the despicable actions of the invaders and make them look authentic. Woman from the Killed Village may be the toughest one, and not only because it has flashes of archival footage around the atrocities committed, but the interviewee’s account in this case covers what happened to her, her husband, and the entire village, and there was one regret that still haunted her to that day that is incredibly devastating. Nearly blocked from being made by Soviet censors, who took seven years to approve its script, Come and See is perhaps the most visceral, impossible-to-forget antiwar film ever made. The color palette is mostly all doom and gloom with a ton of foggy blues and grays, but it's mixed with some spectacular shots of bright greenery in the forest as well as some hot red, orange, and yellow fire from bullets, bombs, and explosions that contrast well with the colder, dark nature of the film. Even Salo: 120 Days of Sodom covered the nazi regime in Italy and most recently, Taika Waititi took an impressive approach with Jojo Rabbit.I also love the more recent, "The Painted Bird" (which still lacks a US physical release; I imported it), as it is a sort of sister film to this. Another 2001 interview with the actor that played Flyora where he discusses how he got cast in the film, life on set, and working with the director and other actors. The detail is quite vivid throughout, revealing all the nasty, horrors of bullet wounds, burnt flesh, and exploded bodies. At any rate, even though they’re primarily interviews the films are not easy to watch, the participants recounting such horrors as being buried alive or gathered into a church with the knowledge of what was going to follow.

Glasha first takes on nymph-like qualities in Flyora’s adolescent imagination, appearing in hazy close-ups that emphasize her blue eyes and the verdant wooded backdrop.For more about Come and See and the Come and See Blu-ray release, see Come and See Blu-ray Review published by Dr.

Despite the fleeting nature of her glance, the image sticks with the viewer, its horror reverberating throughout the film because Klimov doesn’t give it redemptive or revelatory power.Taking cover behind his felled cow, Flyoria awakes in the empty field, now absolutely still, with the mangled animal corpse as his pillow. An additional 2001 interview with the production designer of the film, where he talks about making the film look like a war-torn landscape in the early 1940s. A short Russian TV documentary from 1985 titled How Come and See Was Filmed confirms their impressions, while an interview with Klimov’s brother, German, focuses on the filmmaker’s broader career. Sadly, Roger Deakins is right to point out that these types of powerful authentic films can no longer be made because with the evolution of digital technology something special has been lost. But with this one, she also talks about how she got her life back together after the war, showing how one can still work to move on.