| Brief Description: | This towering, cathartic experience, described as "142 minutes of raw
emotion," won top prizes at the Moscow and Venice film festivals. The
story is based on writer Alex Adamovich's WWII memoirs of SS reprisals
against partisans. Set in occupied Byelorussia in 1943, the film
follows a raw teenager into the swamps and forests of the border
provinces, where he undergoes a hell of atrocities, becoming a
middle-aged wreck as he tries to survive the carnage. Remarkable
acting, camera work, crowd scenes and direction raise the film far
beyond anything comparable as director Elem Klimov manages both a
savage beauty and an impassioned elegy in this anti-war film. Russian
with English subtitles. |
