Come and See (Idi i smotri, Elem Klimov, 1985)

Once known mainly to world cinema fans, Come and See has become intertwined with the Bleak Week phenomenon and is a mandatory viewing experience for anyone interested in what films are capable of. This senses-shattering film by Soviet director Elem Klimov is a plunge into the dehumanizing horrors of war. As Nazi forces encroach on his small village in what is now known as Belarus, teenage Flyora eagerly joins the Soviet resistance. Rather than the adventure and glory that he envisioned, Flyora encounters carnage and cruelty. With Klimov’s intense and expressionistic filmmaking, the film unfurls like a waking nightmare and is one of the only movies that can truly be called an anti-war film. In Belorussian, Russian, and German with English subtitles. (142 mins., DCP)