| If Only Everyone Had to Watch This Film |
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| written by jmwagner66 |
January 14, 2012 - 9:38 PM PST |
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1 out of 1 members found this review helpful
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This is fantastic. I watch many many films dealing with war and this is different. This is realistic. I watched this shortly after viewing "A Woman in Berlin" and wish that before going to war, declaring war or any like action, people had to talk to veterans, victims, survivors and watch these films.
This film shows the Belorussian view of things. A young teen leaves his parents (not a single mother as the synopsis claims), to join the resistance. This film is based on the experiences of a real person who joined the resistance and what he saw, lived through, did, and what was done to him. It is harrowing. There are no redeeming moments. Things are ugly. People suffer. People act in inhumane ways. Others try to keep their humanity. Flory, the main character, starts out as an innocent farm boy and within days of joining up it is clear he will never be the same.
The film is best viewed in silence, no eating, no chatter. It commands full attention. Unlike most war films. This one does not introduce an amazing hero, a victim who believes in the inherent goodness of all humanity despite it all, or any other character you've seen in so many other films. In this film, it is just a young boy who joins the resistance and what he experiences. That is more than all the rest.
There is an interesting statement accompanying the film. A statement by Sean Penn. He says his father called him when this film was showing in LA and told him to go see it. His father was a veteran and felt that this film alone showed war as it is. |
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