re: What are your favorite War movies?

quote:

---

Come and See

---

If you don't mind watching movies with subtitles and you want to see a different take on World War 2, watch this one. It's a Soviet film about the war in Russia. American movies about the Second World War generally focus on themes like heroism, sacrifice, and brotherhood, with the awfulness of war presented as a backdrop to allow those themes to blossom. This is to be expected from a nation that sent its military to fight in the war but whose country was, for the most part, spared direct participation in its horrors.

Come and See is nothing like that. There are no heroes, no one is nobly sacrificing anything, and the ties of brotherhood don't matter here. This is a movie made by a country on whose soil was fought the most brutal, savage conflict in the history of humanity, in which its people had to defend themselves from an invader bent on genocide who slaughtered noncombatants in the millions. The awfulness of war is not a backdrop here - it is the main character. If Saving Private Ryan is a paean to heroism, Come and See is a scream of rage.

Read up on Oskar Dirlewanger, the historical counterpart of the German officer in the film. That guy was one of the most sick, evil individuals in history, though his name is not well-known today. It makes the movie hit home even more when you realize that the most awful parts of it are based on events that actually happened.

Pianist
The Captain