The invasion of a village in Byelorussia by German forces sends young Florya into the forest to join the weary Resistance fighters, against his family's wishes. There he meets a girl, Glasha, who accompanies him back to his village. On returning home, Florya finds his family and fellow peasants massacred. His continued survival amidst the brutal debris of war becomes increasingly nightmarish, a battle between despair and hope.
Come and See sounds like an invitation to a child's game. Nothing could be further from the truth.
– Rita Kempley,
Washington Post,
1 Jan 2000
fresh:
Scene for scene, Mr. Klimov proves a master of a sort of unreal realism that seeks to get at events terrible beyond comprehension.
– Walter Goodman,
New York Times,
30 Aug 2004
fresh:
A disorienting and undifferentiated amalgam of almost lyrical poeticism and expressionist nightmare.
– Wally Hammond,
Time Out,
9 Feb 2006
fresh:
Come and See, the last and most notable film made by the former Soviet director Elem Klimov, is another fusion of popular and vanguard styles, albeit put to more civic-minded use.
– J. Hoberman,
Village Voice,
15 Oct 2007
rotten:
I suppose that never forgetting has its place, but not when it insists on such narrowly righteous fantasies of revenge.