"I saw this movie in Paris about 15 years ago. Just happened upon it, playing at an obscure theater, and decided to give it a try. I had never seen a Russian WW II movie and was curious to see how they handled it. Seeing the film like that with no foreknowledge or preparation was a devastating experience -- it was frighteningly moving and depicted war in a way I'd never thought possible.The film made a big impression on me. The years passed, and occasionally I would think about the film. I didn't really even know its title in English (as I said, I saw it in France, with Russian soundtrack and French subtitles). I happened to come across references to the film recently on the web, so I went to Amazon.com's site (and other on-line sellers of videos) to see if it was available, and, to my surprise here it is. The problem is that, because this film is so heavy and, in many ways, disturbing, I'm going to have to think about obtaining it and seeing it again. Maybe it was best to have come across it by chance one evening in Paris, and leave it at that . . . . But for all of you who are wondering about this film, see it. It will likely have a profound effect on you." |
