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Idi i smotri (1985)
Rate:
5
Viewed:
3/25
3/25:
I wanted to find out what the most realistic war movie was, and people pointed to Idi i smotri aka
Come and See from the USSR.
While watching it, I was like, "Are you joking me?" No wonder why I had never heard of it before. Granted,
there are improvements during the second half, but the movie is too long with the timeline jumping ahead a
lot and many close-ups of faces. When they, most especially Aleksei Kravchenko, stare blankly in front of
the screen, it's a poor attempt at conveying depth; in fact, I can't help but think it's a revival of an ancient
method from Bronenosets Potyomkin and plenty of other silent
pictures.
Horrors of war? I don't think so. It's rather tame and has been done better in
All Quiet on the Western Front,
Schindler's List,
Hamburger Hill,
Triumph of the Spirit, and
When Trumpets Fade. The last ten minutes is ridiculous and utterly
pointless. No matter how much the USSR wants to show what the Nazis did, let's not forget that they also did
similar kinds of brutality, especially during Stalin's regime. How about that Katyn massacre? The Russians
killed 22,000 Polish people and then covered it up for decades.
On the positive side, the cinematography is top-notch throughout, so kudos to Aleksei Rodionov. If not for
that, sitting through Idi i smotri would've been much harder, and I'm not a fan of Soviet cinema. The
film's style is certainly a cross between Stanley Kubrick and Andrei Tarkovsky: slow, boring, mechanical, and
devoid of emotions.
All in all, don't be fooled by the praises sung on Idi i smotri; it's at best average and at worst
amateurish.