2020 Has been a chaotic year, to say the least; from threats of war at the beginning of the year, to a deadly virus infecting the world, and are now in the middle of what we hope to be a political revolution to greatly adjust our law enforcement systems around the world. We’ve all been handling the escalating tensions and issues in the world about as best as we can, yet there’s been one creeping issue that’s been lingering over my head in our current world: the rise of fascism. Anyone who hasn’t had their heads stuck in the mud for the past four years, our current political administration in the United States has raised plenty of concerns about the shifting political tides of the right-wing since our last election. Those who claimed people were overreacting when he who should not be named was elected to the presidency should finally have their eyes open to the current issues plaguing our nation. Unfortunately, many people are still blind to the issues in our world. Nationalism and Fascism is on the rise in the United States, and plenty of people take no issue with that; it seems as if many people are completely forgetting world history over the past ninety-years. Anyway, with this rise in political tensions, seeing how our current administrations are perpetuating dangerous attacks against Americans’ First Amendment rights, as well as turning a blind eye to the police state, I wanted to look into a film that showed the end results of fascism and nationalism: Come and See.
I was inspired to finally watch through Come and See because of an image circulating the internet once again from the United States Holocaust Museum: a sign that depicts a warning of the early signs of fascism. It’s sickening to look at that sign and ponder on how relevant it is to our current world, and it made me think back to the history of World War II (something I’ve been fond of studying ever since I was a child), and with that, I wanted to watch the most highly-acclaimed war film centered around WWII I hadn’t watched yet; the results were sickening, yet topical in our modern world.
Come and See shows us at the beginning what the effects of propaganda can have on people. Our central character, Flyora, is a fifteen-year-old kid who’s fascinated with war and feels dedicated to putting his life on the line against the encroaching threat of Nazi squadrons terrorizing villages across Russia. After digging up a rifle from remains of a battle not too far from his home, Flyora joins up with a group of Russian resistance members to fight, despite his mother’s cries for him to stay home. Instead of finding glory on the battlefield, Flyora witnesses first-hand the terrors of fascism and war as a whole, as he barely survives multiple encounters of gunfights, mortar explosions, and slaughters of whole villages.
Depicted in stark detail, without any gloss of sheen to the production, Come and See presents us with a bleak, realistic picture of what war is like, and how the orders of a fascist nation have ramifications on not only the home country of that leadership, but other nations around them. What’s so brilliant about the imagery of Come and See is that it never goes into the full “war movie mode” with extended scenes of battles ala Saving Private Ryan and whatnot, yet instead takes a more intimate look of small skirmishes, and the disgusting slaughtering of innocent people. The film also helms frequent uses of close-up shots of our actors, peering right into the camera and showcasing the pain and agony they’re experiencing; something like that could easily be immersion-breaking in an average film, yet it only enhances the narrative, here. The story combined with the cinematography in Come and See shows that the film has no heroes, nobody to latch onto to be the savior of the whole ordeal, but rather gives the audience a way to experience the horror through the eyes of a child; it’s dark, depressing, and I often felt sick while watching it, which says a lot about its true artistic power.
A lot of this horror conveyed to the viewer is through the impeccable sound design, which does a fantastic job of mixing true diegetic sound with sounds that other characters may not hear, but in a way, soundtrack our main character’s current mental state. Low undertones of bass, as well as high-pitch shrieks sometimes appear within Come and See to exacerbate the current state of Flyora, who is stuck in the middle of a perpetual, mental downward spiral; only Flyora and us, the audience can hear these sounds, and it amplifies the tension tenfold.
Speaking of elevating the horror, Come and See lets viewers in on all the visceral details it can with clear, static camera shots for a large majority of the movie; rarely does the camera shake, or just move in general, letting us in on all the details noticeable within a single frame. Along with the cinematography, and the aforementioned sound design, director Elem Klimov works wonders with his actors to get the most visceral performances possible; we see this effort placed within all of Come and See’s side characters, yet it’s in Flyora where we see the most change. Watching the mental destruction Flyora faces throughout the film is showcased within the sound design yet is also done in his overall appearance. As Flyora encounters more and more war crimes, and sees the worst in people and political powers, he looks to have aged decades by the end of the film. A lot of talk has been around about the authenticity of the performance, primarily on subjecting such young actors to such horrific source material, scarring them for the rest of their lives. To Klimov’s credit, he tried to make the more intensive scenes of Come and See easier for Flyora’s actor, Alexey Kravchenko, by hiring a hypnotist to try and mellow his mind before shooting, yet Kravchenko went on to say that hypnotism didn’t work on him, leading to a genuine, if not disturbing performance to the film. Kravchenko stated that after filming Come and See, he returned to normal life thinner than usual, and also sporting grey hair (which can be seen at the end of the film, which was shot chronologically) from all the stress he took on while filming.
Although Come and See doesn’t sport much in terms of on-screen diversity, it’s through the political message of the film where we can see what it wants us to learn. Our lead is a young white male, who will often come into contact with women, be them women around his age, are mothers, or even grandmothers, yet they don’t make up much of the film’s narrative focus; the only exception being Glasha, a young woman Flyora meets towards the beginning of the film, yet they become separated around Come and See’s second act.
Come and See shows us a lot of graphic imagery, some of it real, such as seeing a cow being shot, and disturbing archive footage of war violence and concentration camps towards the end of the film. This film is not meant to be an easy pill to swallow; it’s rough, disheartening, and often sickening, yet that’s what fascism is. It’s been stated near countless times by now, but the message “those who do not history are doomed to repeat it” rings true to this day by witnessing our current political landscape distorting right in front of us. Through Come and See and all the historical knowledge we have today, we can point at the key similarities we’re in for the slippery slope that leads us down to fascist political rule. It’s not easy to learn about these things; subjecting yourself to such disturbing imagery is disheartening, to say the least, but it’s important to learn of the past, see what our results can end like, and fight to make changes in our world so that we don’t see the darkest sides of history repeat themselves. Keep fighting for what’s right, keep the pressure on your political leaders, and advocate for change in the world.
If you’re interested in watching Come and See, it’s currently streaming on The Criterion Channel and will be available on Blu Ray via The Criterion Collection on June 30th, sporting a new 2K transfer, as well as a bunch of added special features.
