I’m writing this on the eve of my double header of “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer”, and I debated writing about how much it excites me to see so much buzz around one, let alone two, movies coming out in theaters. Instead, I’m dedicating tonight’s post to a 1985 foreign film I watched for the first time on Sunday.

I know, that might seem out of left field. But the more I think about it, the more I realize that it ties to the excitement for Barbenheimer. Let me give you some backstory.

When my husband and I woke up on Sunday morning, I was overjoyed to hear the distant rumbling of thunder and rain on the bedroom windows. It gave me an excuse to practice my favorite tradition – move all the pillows and blankets to the couch, make chocolate chip pancakes, and watch whatever movie is on TCM or one you’ve been meaning to watch but never seem to make time for.

Hal’s a big WWII movie guy and I’m overly involved on what used to be Film Twitter, so I had read all about the Russian anti-war 1985 movie, “Come and See”. For those who don’t know, it’s rated among the best war films of all time, and currently sits at #2 on Letterboxd’s Official Top 250 Narrative Feature Films. We found it streaming on the Criterion Channel.

The film follows Flyora, a 13-year-old Belarusian who joins the partisans in the fight against the occupying Germans in 1943. The first hour feels like a fever dream – Flyora is a low-ranking militiaman, doing menial tasks like cleaning the cauldron. When it’s announced the partisans will march, Flyora is left behind with the women. He wanders into the woods, distraught, and meets Glasha before they’re attacked by German bombers and paratroopers.

From there, you experience the full horrors of war through Flora’s eyes, and those eyes are unblinking. At the beginning of the film, you see a young boy, fascinated by the idea of heroes and villains, and by the end, the haunting look in Aleksei Kravchenko’s eyes is an image that will not leave your brain without a fight.

Watching the film, I didn’t realize right away, but I was fully invested in every aspect of this film. It’s incredibly hard to watch, almost unnervingly visceral, but you also cannot look away. It’s an incredible piece of filmmaking that I would rank among the top war movies of all time. I’m still thinking about it days later.

So, how does an anti-war Soviet film tie into Barbenheimer?

I may just be speaking for myself, but even though I love the movies (maybe only slightly less than Tom Cruise), sometimes I find it hard to want to watch a film. You get in a rut and nothing sounds good, or you’ve already seen it, or you already know the main plot points. You float along, endlessly scrolling on your different streaming channels, but end up on TikTok or watching Dateline. (That might just be me).

But movies like “Come and See” or “Barbie” or “Oppenheimer” remind me why I love the movies. I randomly turned on “Come and See” and it broke me out of my movie rut. For some people, Barbenheimer might do the same – it might be the first time a lot of them return to theaters for the first time in a while.

Movies are pure art to be witnessed, and I’m grateful that I was reminded of that this weekend.