Come and See (The Criterion Collection) [Blu-ray]

Product Information

Despite the fleeting nature of her glance, the image sticks with the viewer, its horror reverberating throughout the film because Klimov doesn’t give it redemptive or revelatory power. Europe's busiest forums, with independent news and expert reviews, for TVs, Home Cinema, Hi-Fi, Movies, Gaming, Tech and more.

The sound effects of rampant gunfire, bombing runs, explosions, and horrific screams are all robust and loud. The hazy, almost hallucinatory lighting in some scenes washed out the colors in previous releases, but here the image is incredibly stable, boasting impressive contrast differentiation. We experience the German invasion of Belarus through Flyora (Aleksey Kravchenko), a teenager who joins the local partisan militia after discovering a rifle buried in the sand. Sadly, Roger Deakins is right to point out that these types of powerful authentic films can no longer be made because with the evolution of digital technology something special has been lost.

The release also arrives with a 30-page illustrated booklet featuring essays by critics Mark Le Fanu and Valzhyna Mort, as well as technical credits. An additional 2001 interview with the production designer of the film, where he talks about making the film look like a war-torn landscape in the early 1940s.

Rarely do they keep us totally locked out of the commander’s map room, the bunker where the top brass exposit backstory, outline goals, or lay out geography for the viewer. That being said, Elem Klimov mixes some surreal and magical imagery throughout the dust and fog that gives way to hope and destruction as this young boy is forced to witness the murder of his people, devastation and rape on a consistent basis. The level of range between the highs and lows is also impressive, and the more action-packed sequences, involving explosions and gunfire, are mixed louder but they never come off harsh and do sound clean and natural, delivering incredible fidelity. Commander Kosach's (Liubomiras Laucevicius) reluctance to treat the 'new recruit' as he does the rest of the partisans, however, quickly pushes the boy away from the camp. Criterion gave this a new 1080p HD transfer with its original mono soundtrack and tons of new and vintage extras.Come And See is a much-welcomed addition to the Criterion family as this film is one of the best takes on the Holocaust. The sound design gets elaborate in other ways, like muffling out certain sounds at times while enhancing others, and it never comes off screeching or weak.

The two kids must survive a trek across mud, hills, forests, and bodies while also dodging bullets, bombs, and a variety of enemy soldiers. The close-ups on the protagonist throughout the film are especially something, as it becomes far clearer how his face is aging as the film progresses. A full third of the Nazis’ innocent victims were killed in mass executions on the Eastern Front—both by specially assigned SS troops and the regular Wehrmacht (though the myth of a “clean Wehrmacht” lives on to this day).Criterion's Blu-ray release of Come and See is sourced from an outstanding 2K master that makes revisiting the film quite an experience. Full Metal Jacket', as good a film as it is, is like an episode of sesame street compared to 'Come and See'. In the end, Criterion has put together a satisfying collection of supplements, covering the film’s production, it’s subject matter, those behind it, and it’s visual style.