I just watched the movie for the second time (first was many years ago), and came to see the comments...It seems there are mostly 2 sides: one that got deeply moved and thought-provoked by it, and others who watched it only to see what the hype is about and find flaws...
For me, this is one of the movies that influences your perspective on life and through which you uncover another small bit of realization about the human nature...
If you're looking for an action, war movie, you won't find it here - it will be too long and too philosophical. If you're looking for something "deep" but which will be fully defined, chewed up and served to you, you'll probably find it "pretentious and egoistical" like some of the comments here.
But if you let yourself into it without pre-set expectations and opinion, take in all that is going on and let your thoughts dig a bit into some of the directions, you'll find a masterfully created art that takes a period of time and a location and just shows it to you, along with people in it, from multiple angles, not telling you what to think. Then you are, at the same time, exposed to the beauty and duality of nature (tranquility and violence), men which are a part of it, that are conflicted by that same duality, to their (most often) disconnected thoughts while they are trying to make sense of things that are happening and the essence of it ("What is killing us?", "What's keepin' us from reaching out, touching the glory?")...
There are no good guys or bad guys, no heros nor villains, no conclusions or answers, no story (in traditional sense) - and it's still one of the most effective, daring and influential anti-war movies ever...
If you want to, you will find plenty of topics in the movie (nature, temporality and relative insignificance of man and his conflict's and goals, free will, love, morality, idealism, death, God, goodness, survival...) and lots of symbolism, but never forced upon you...
If you want to see a movie primarily as form of entertainment, this is probably not the best choice. But if you want to be exposed to art, as in - a creation that will provoke heavier emotions, change your mood, make you think your own thoughts and keep you "submerged" in it for a bit longer - this is one of those that truly belongs in that category.
For me, this is one of the movies that influences your perspective on life and through which you uncover another small bit of realization about the human nature...
If you're looking for an action, war movie, you won't find it here - it will be too long and too philosophical. If you're looking for something "deep" but which will be fully defined, chewed up and served to you, you'll probably find it "pretentious and egoistical" like some of the comments here.
But if you let yourself into it without pre-set expectations and opinion, take in all that is going on and let your thoughts dig a bit into some of the directions, you'll find a masterfully created art that takes a period of time and a location and just shows it to you, along with people in it, from multiple angles, not telling you what to think. Then you are, at the same time, exposed to the beauty and duality of nature (tranquility and violence), men which are a part of it, that are conflicted by that same duality, to their (most often) disconnected thoughts while they are trying to make sense of things that are happening and the essence of it ("What is killing us?", "What's keepin' us from reaching out, touching the glory?")...
There are no good guys or bad guys, no heros nor villains, no conclusions or answers, no story (in traditional sense) - and it's still one of the most effective, daring and influential anti-war movies ever...
If you want to, you will find plenty of topics in the movie (nature, temporality and relative insignificance of man and his conflict's and goals, free will, love, morality, idealism, death, God, goodness, survival...) and lots of symbolism, but never forced upon you...
If you want to see a movie primarily as form of entertainment, this is probably not the best choice. But if you want to be exposed to art, as in - a creation that will provoke heavier emotions, change your mood, make you think your own thoughts and keep you "submerged" in it for a bit longer - this is one of those that truly belongs in that category.