A classic

Since I kept hearing some really good things about this movie, I was really eager to check it out. Well, the damned thing definitely deserves its notorious reputation and it is indeed by far the bleakest WWII movie I have seen. Of course, I’m well aware of the atrocities that happened back then in Western Europa but I’m not so familiar with what happened in Eastern Europa, in particular, the Soviet Union, but the horrors perpetuated there reached a really despicable level. To make it all even more horrific, everything was also told from the point of view of a very young boy. Eventually, this movie also displayed how kids might develop some massive PTSD by spending so much time, sometimes even years, in such war zone and by being relentlessly confronted with such horrific events. To be honest, I have to admit that it is a rather difficult movie to grasp though. Indeed, nothing is told in a straightforward way and, instead, you get a series of really chaotic events and, as a result, it can be frustrating to watch. However, if you manage to hold on to it, you might come to the conclusion that its chaotic nature could be actually a perfect reflection of the chaotic nature of war itself. Indeed, many more war movies might be easier to swallow but, in fact, all these movies are just way too neat and, as a result, they could be actually glorifying war, even if it was unintentional. Here, war is the stuff of nightmare that you will probably never forget and that’s probably how it should be. Anyway, to conclude, even if it was not an easy watch, it was still one of the most daunting war movies I have seen and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you don’t mind getting depressed or disgust while watching a movie. 


8/10