causticjones Reviews

Come and See (1985)

Beauty & Horror

[10/10 · 26 March 2007]

Come & See is without doubt one of the most beautiful and horrific war films ever mean. It is in many ways a Europeon Apocolpyse Now, just as with that film the central character is as more an observer of the war rather than a participant in it, Come & See's hero, Florya finds a rifle in the films opening scenes, which he carries throughout but only fires in the films final scene, and even then only a picture of Hitler. Floya though is a child, making the film a rite of passage as much as it is a war film. If this film can truly be called such, as it lacks any of the conventions and cliques of any Hollywood war film. In it there is no sense of war being in way heroic or noble. There are no action scenes or fire fights here, the casualties are all unarmed and even the Nazis who die are executed. It, unlike any of Speilbergs films in this genre, offers no rousing speeches at the end to give us some hope.

Some of the scenes, especially the final 'battle,' are hard to watch, horrific in fact, but they all beautifully shoot, making the film mesmerizing as it is shocking.

Humanity (1999)

sad and beautiful film

[7/10 · 16 August 2006]

This is a thoughtful and original film and the polar opposite of any Hollywood movie. It's slight plot is not what the film is about, it is in many ways a mood piece. The opening image of a vast landscape a lone figure running along the horizon is accompanied only by the sound of the heavy breaths of the runner, and sets the tone for the entire film.

The film is character driven and contains long periods of near silence and beautifully shot landscape. Its basic plot, the investigation into the rape and murder of a young girl, would suggest it is a thriller but this film is about it's characters first and foremost.

Our hero Pharon is a policeman who lives at home with his mother He has suffered the loss of his wife and child, how we never find out. The crime he investigates pushes him into a state of utter despair. This despair is not shown to us with any overblown emotional fireworks but with a heavy and quite sorrow which he carries throughout the film. He is portrayed by Emmanuel Schotte who justly won the best actor award at Cannes, and was unjustly booed for doing so. This may have something to with the fact that he is retired accountant rather than an actor. His face expresses the sheer anguish is a man at the end of his teether, by expressing nothing at all save for thin smile that seems to come not from joy but to stop him from crying.

The center of the film is Pharon relationship with his neighbor Domino played by Severine Caneele who won best actress and boos at Cannes to. She is also untrained and delivers a wonderful performance.

The investigation moves at a snails pace, and probably offers a more realistic look at police work than most films as witnesses are questioned and requestioned.

It is a slow and beautiful film and reminded me strangely of Hal Hartly's work, in that the charters and actors seem to be doing very little but are expressing so much.