Come and See

In March 2009, I watched Elem Klimov's Come and See (1985) for the first time. I was stunned by its unflinching and intense depiction of war. Almost a year afterwards, I decided to watch the film again to see if it really was as great as I thought back then. Klimov's film tells about an innocent Russian boy who has to deal with terrible atrocities as Nazis wreak havoc near his hometown.

The screenplay is more or less a mess, no matter how I look at it. Its anti-war message is presented in an over-the-top, heavy-handed way - and never goes below the superficial level. The film alienates the viewer on many occasions (the film is all about being ridiculously dark - there is even no comparison to a better time to make the characters closer to the audience), which is only terrible because it relies heavily on the viewer's reaction. That way the film resorts to using only shock value as a means of exploring the themes. That's a sign of weak writing. However, the movie does portray war in extremely gruesome detail - something it does somewhat well. Sadly, that hardly makes the content satisfying.

The film's form is even more alienating: complex long takes, ridiculously melodramatic musical score, baffling sound mixing and the calm pace keep the viewer at bay. As a distant, cold observation on war the film utterly fails. Despite that, I can still applaud its ways to alienate the viewer - especially the noisy sound mixing is good at that. However, your ears will hurt by the end of the film because all the sound effects are used in really peculiar ways. You'll have to hear it for yourself.

Shamefully, the film is too enraged about its subject so that the movie is not capable of providing a sensible and complex take on anything.

Score: 5 out of 10

Eureka

Shinji Aoyama's Eureka (2000) reminds me why I love cinema as much as I do: sometimes I find something so unique and fascinating that tthis "something" lingers on my mind for a long time after seeing the film. I was expecting something a little offbeat from Eureka, but what it provided me with was a truly cathartic experience - and that's why it became one of my favorite films of all time.

Eureka opens with a violent scene: a man hijacks a bus, kills a few and then engages in a bloody shootout with the police. The rest of the film explores the aftermath of the incident through the eyes of the three survivors: the busdriver and two school children. Their lives begin to fall apart slowly and painfully as their alienation becomes stronger.

The tone of the film is dark and the pace is extremely slow - making the pain of the characters more tangible for the viewers. One would think this would be hard to digest because the film is so long (almost 4 hours), but it's almost the opposite. Even the beautiful visuals alone make the film worth watching. Sepia and widescreen are used effectively in the photography which offers a lot of fascinating compositions. The camera remains static for a great deal of time, but there is camera movement once in a while - and when there is movement, it's really complex and breathtaking.

The editing is intriguing as well. Mostly there are a lot of long takes, but ellipses and jump cuts are also used on a few occasions. Especially the beginning is very elliptica: the shooting itself receives only a short period of screentime and we only see the end of it. The immediate aftermath is also portrayed very quickly and instead of exploring that, the film focuses on what happens 2 years later.

The film is a mesmerizing take on recuperation, guilt and alienation. The characters often wander in the barren landscape, which describes their emotional state. There is a huge void they want to fill, but it is not easy. Shell-shocked trauma is not something you recover from easily. Especially if you don't talk - like the children in Eureka.

The movie is mostly quiet, but the silence is sometimes broken by a beautiful, haunting score which consists of simple piano tunes and sometimes strings join the piano. The visuals alone would be a stunning thing to witness, but the music just adds a new great layer to the experience. Jim O'Rourke's song Eureka is also used in a few scenes - and the song fits very well into the soundtrack.

The acting is reduced to such naturalism that it seems more geniune than most of the acting I've ever seen. This is especially the case with the two children (Aoi Miyazaki and Masura Miyazaki, they are siblings in real life as well). Koji Yakusho's tour de force performance is also magnificent.

Eureka is a stunning film that should be more known around the world. It might not be an easy film to digest, but it's very rewarding.

Score: 10 out of 10