Come and See (1985)

Directed by Elem Klimov. Starring Aleksei Kravchenko.

Klimov's masterful re-enactment of the Nazi invasion of Byelorussia during World War II is possibly the most harrowing war movie ever made. The events are seen through the eyes of a teenage boy (Kravchenko), who when the film begins wants to join the local army. However, as the Nazis storm from town to town, they leave a trail of carnage and suffering in their wake, and the boy's patriotism turns to madness. Klimov's camera follows the boy relentlessly from one horrifying vision to the next, and as the film's events grow more inexplicable to the boy, his horror becomes our own. Virtually every modern war film says that war is hell, but none is as hellish (or as strangely beautiful) as this one.