Come and See (1985)

 ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ½

Come and See (1985) – E. Klimov

After watching Shoah (1985; a 9-hour documentary where Holocaust survivors are interviewed) earlier this year, it is hard to imagine a more horrific portrayal of wartime evil – but Come And See (also 1985; a fictional account of a real atrocity during WWII in modern-day Belarus) comes close. We begin, as many war movies do, with wet-behind-the-ears Flyora (Aleksey Kravchenko), aged 14 or so, eager to join the partisans and fight against the invading German army.  I think director Elem Klimov may have been luring viewers in, counting on their expectations that his film would be true to the cliché that sees boys grow into men as a result of the challenges of war (but which really gives audiences a thrilling action-adventure story rather than any “real” glimpse of slaughter). So, we see Flyora left behind as the partisans march out, his hopes dashed – he meets a young girl and they dally together before the bombing starts and he is shellshocked. They return to his village and everyone is gone (she sees what he does not see – they have been murdered). From this point on, as the pair move on to a refugee camp and he joins a small party on an expedition to gather supplies, we gradually witness one horror after another, often portrayed in a surreal perhaps psychedelic fashion (as when we see things from Flyora’s deafened/shellshocked perspective). Klimov’s goal becomes clear – this is a portrayal of trauma, not heroism. As the anecdotes accumulate, chaos begins to mount and the German army appears as an immoral circus, viciously and wickedly enacting war crimes that explicitly echo Shoah’s descriptions (the innocent are killed). These scenes are relentless and there is no relief (even as the partisans strike back) – until the final unbelievable “pure cinema” moments that ask, implicitly, whether this could have all been avoided. Not for the faint of heart – a terrifying depiction of the evil that humans can do.    

 

Another Round (2020)

 ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

Another Round (2020) – T. Vinterberg

Thoroughly enthralling and ultimately uplifting tale of midlife burnout and how to rejuvenate it.  I don’t think the answer is really alcohol – although that is a hypothesis that the film investigates and (mostly) rejects. Mads Mikkelsen plays Martin, a high school history teacher, who has lost his mojo – so much so that the kids in his class stage an intervention (with their parents) demanding some improvements. This comes up as a topic for discussion at a 40^th birthday night out with a few of his mates (other teachers at the school) and one proposes that Martin needs to loosen up.  He quotes a philosopher who apparently argued that humans would be happier and more successful if they kept their blood-alcohol content at .05%.  The teachers decide to try this out and begin swigging spirits before class in the morning and throughout the day.  The classes do seem to get better, looser, more fun.  The teachers progress to different variations of the experiment with often funny results.  The film itself feels intoxicated!  But, of course, given the nature of this particular substance, all the fun cannot last. And if this is a Dogme 95 film (which it may not be), from Thomas Vinterberg, an original member of that group, some degree of realism may have been required.  And yet, the ridiculous experiment turns out to be the way the guy got his life back – but probably not recommended for everyone.  Winner of the Best Foreign/International Film Oscar.

 

Mikey and Nicky (1976)

☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ 

Mikey and Nicky (1976) – E. May

This is essentially a two-hander for John Cassavetes and Peter Falk with the improvisational style of the former’s work but directed by Elaine May (heretofore known for comedy, although not without poignancy). The duo are two low-level mobsters who have been friends for years but also may not entirely trust each other. Cassavetes believes that there is a contract out on his life, from his own mob boss (potentially after a betrayal) -- the facts of the story are far from clear and come out mostly in passing, while the relationship between the two men is the main focus. (We eventually come to realise that Cassavetes may be right, when we see hitman Ned Beatty driving around looking for him).  Falk and Cassavetes are old hands at this style of naturalistic acting (see them together in the latter’s Husbands, 1970) and they carry it off with aplomb. In May’s hands, the portrayals take on a more determined form than in some of Cassavetes oeuvre – there is a caustic feeling to this analysis of male behaviour that disembowels a friendship in favour of competition. The ending seals the deal and may be more planned than anything else in the film (edited together from hours and hours of footage) allowing some reverb after the credits roll.  A masterful demonstration of this technique.