most disturbing scene
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FurMint — 17 years ago(April 28, 2008 05:24 PM)
Yes, the people desperately trying to knock down the door was a very hard hitting scene, but I also had a hard time getting rid of the noise in my head of the screaming from within the barn when the soldiers were throwing in grenades.
Also, the facial expressions and the wordless interactions between Floria and the girl (forgot the name) in the village when he's trying to find his family.
This is not the angle of the dangle!! This is not the angle of the dangle!!!! -
Painbow — 17 years ago(May 16, 2008 02:25 PM)
I actually thought the most disturbing scene was the Hitler scarecrow..it seemed to represent the Russian peoples total obsession, addiction, dependence and hatred for the brutality that had befallen them..and in a comical cartoony way.which made it all the more disturbing
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vadimo1 — 17 years ago(May 24, 2008 04:42 AM)
i must add that watching interview with Elem Klimov, he said that there was so much more he could add to the film but it would of made it impossibly painful to watch.
He red book which was compiled by 3 men who went Belarus villages to interview people who survived the war and witnessed cruelty and brutality of German solders. -
sleepingbag — 17 years ago(May 26, 2008 06:38 PM)
I just watched this today; very intense movie. I agree with previous posters that the part when Florya and Glasha were running and she's turns to see all the villagers dead behind the houses probably the most disturbing part. Also when the boy talks to his father after the Nazis nearly burned him to a crisp.
"Sheds are bourgeois crap." -
lionbarcrunch — 17 years ago(May 27, 2008 06:39 AM)
I think the disturbance of this scene is made my two factors:
- The element of surprize and unprediction. If Glascha didn't turn when running after Florya, we probably wouldn't see it. So suddenly, you see this really disturning and unsettling scene. You weren't prepared (In others scenes like the one where village peasants were forced into the barn and incinerated, you could predict what was going to happen).
- The fact that this scene remains obscure. You only see a short glimpse of it (Florya didn't even see it), so it's up to you imagine the cruelty behind it. How the village peasants were forced behind the house, how they were killed etc.
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thewubbelupagus — 17 years ago(May 28, 2008 01:17 AM)
The burning village scene is just brutal in its complete over-the-topness. The viewer is assulted with a crazed barrage of sensory input from snarling, barking dogs,engines roaring; laughing, shouting, weird polka music, breaking glass, explosions, gunshots, screaming, crackling flames, and a fire you can see from space.
Also, I think one of the most disturbing things about this film is the kid's face. He just looks so completely and totally insane and physically sick with terror. And of course, the constant bizzare staring shots make the most of it. -
oneloveall — 17 years ago(November 18, 2008 01:30 AM)
lionbarcrunch got it right as to why the body-pile reveal was the most (initially) disturbing sequencethe driving away perspective he uses coupled with the fast element of shock.
Another scene no one specifically mentioned, although certainly not most disturbing in the traditional sense the way the director, male and female lead did that minute-plus swamp survival tracking shot was one of the more agonizing, hopelessly conveyed depictions fighting against the current of death I have viewed.
Of course though, when taken as a single scene, the entire mass-burning-and-surrounding-directed-mayhem eclipses everything else with its long-form brain-searing effects.Somewhere in the middle of this sequence it becomes utterly frightening and believable despite any flaws; the crushing tyranny of hedonistic chaos all around the stench of unjust death in its lowest form is articulated to a point that supersedes rage and gives you the cinematic equivalency of loosing everything you thought decent in humanity, and then loosing your soul itself..What a fearless dedication to.fear that shoot in particular must have been, surely a landmark achievement of War film production that comes as close as possible to fictionalizing the blackest of mankind's facts.
I could only wish a fraction of directors today have a fraction of Klimov's dedication at making anti-ignorant art. -
commonwealth1996 — 16 years ago(July 25, 2009 10:37 AM)
Another scene no one specifically mentioned, although certainly not most disturbing in the traditional sense the way the director, male and female lead did that minute-plus swamp survival tracking shot was one of the more agonizing, hopelessly conveyed depictions fighting against the current of death I have viewed.
I agree. That one, especially with the music in the background, was one of the, if not the most disturbing parts, especially after all we'd just seen. -
Niffiwan — 17 years ago(August 01, 2008 07:41 PM)
After burning the village, some laughing German soldiers carry out a bed with a very old grandma lying on it and tell her "you'll create many children for us yet, granny!". Then as they're leaving, the camera shows that she's looking after them and smiling in gratitude.
My blog about Russian animation:
http://niffiwan.livejournal.com/ -
Nova_UB313 — 17 years ago(December 12, 2008 04:03 PM)
The barn scene is disturbing of course. But also disturbing was the high Nazi official with the little furry creature, and the woman eating the shellfish so casually as if nothing was happening. I mean, how does one stay so calm in the midst of all that terror, the screams and the scent of burning flesh?
I was also quite disturbed by the scene of Florya bringing Glasha to his village, only to realize it had become a ghost town. But the real horror was when they were running away, and Glasha turned back to see what had become of the village residents.
The cow scene was quite memorable as well.
In addition, I found the early scene with Florya and Glasha frolicking in the forest quite touching. It was almost like a fairytale as these two children were making the best of what was left of their world, only to have their moment crushed by the hum of the plane above, then the artillery fire.
More science, less fiction. -
gatemouthrb — 17 years ago(December 22, 2008 03:03 PM)
Wow - all these scenes everybody is listing are really "up there".
There's one scene I remember vividly. While not the "most disturbing" of the whole film, it's the long-take scene of Flor in the old farmer's house, being introduced by the nice farmer to his entire family huddled in the house in that shaky voice of pending uncertainty.
Then the expectant way the Nazi officer saunters into their home, sits at the table to be served a meal by a quietly father declaring him "our guest". Clearly seeing the writing on the wall.
But something about it really SHOOK ME UP when, a moment later, the way the soldier passing the home from outside simply breaks their windows with a smile so that he can be served up a cup of coffee. At that point, we all know that everything in the general vicinity will be raised/burned in a matter of moments. Nothing in eyesight matters. And yet the father flows hot coffee into the soldier's cup.
Still, the following barn scene is #1 in the list for me, IMHO. -
Bluehawk2008 — 17 years ago(January 10, 2009 09:03 PM)
For me, what really gets me during the barn scene is the yodeling on the soundtrack. It's just such a distinctly German mode of singing and it sounds incredibly ludicrous. It creates the perfect character for the "German madness" if you will that is engulfing the village. It's upbeat vocals also contrast greatly with the violence.
Another disturbing scene is when they're first deafened by bombs and all we can hear is the kind of skull vibrations of his breathing the way he actually would hear himself when his ears gave out. We feel just as dislocated and vulnerable as he does and when the bullets start flying you can hear them but so faintly one could only imagine the horror of being so robbed of senses while fending for one's life.
The entire crossing the swamp scene where they're up to their necks in mud is harrowing to the point where I feel physically uncomfortable watching it lol. Normally my empathy for film characters is wanting at best, but there's something about this film's I guess, "applied surrealism" that offers a palpability that oddly enough makes it feel more real.