shepitko be the wife of russian filmmaker elem klimov and who direct the more commercially known 1984 film come and see and generally regard a one of the most realistic war film ever and bar none and notable for it searing poetic intensity and but i believe it lack the inner complexity of this even great russian film and which examine not just the graphic outer horror and but she find truly inspiring image focus on individual or small group of character that reflect the absolute insanity take place inside these human being and the end of which be simply awe inspiring . bullet be fly and body be die in a gun skirmish over the opening credit and where the intensity of the film never let up throughout the duration and focus on grim face and wear out soldier with next to nothing to eat and a terrified population under occupation and starve child with petrified mother and all cast in an immense landscape of endless white snow . like crane be fly ( 1957 ) and this feature a russian army in retreat and a traumatizing shock early in the war when they be nearly wipe out . the russian countryside have be overrun by german nazi who be terrorize the citizen and steal what food they have and force them under duress to become their informant eye and ear . what russian soldier be leave hide under cover of forest and but be force to send food expedition to neighboring farm . this film follow two soldier that from the outset be on a near impossible mission and a there little food leave anywhere in the dead of winter . one be healthy and fit and vladimir gostyukhin a rybak and while the other and boris plotnikov a sotnikov and be slow down by a tubercular sounding cough and eventually a bullet in his leg that nearly leave him for dead and but his partner heroically rescue him . a they step through knee deep snow drift and crawl at some point with insufficient protection against the harsh element and like so many other russian film and nature itself become their tough foe . spoiler . everything be reduce to a matter of survival . when they reach their destination and the farm have be demolish and leave in a state of rubble and push forward into german occupied territory where the next farm be man by an elderly soviet collaborator who fear nazi retribution . the partisan soldier think him a coward but move on and where they be eventually capture and bring to a nazi camp in a nearby town and hold a prisoner and along with a proud and protective mother ( lyudmila polyakova ) who help hide them . tarkovsky stalwart anatoli solonitsyn appear a portnov the interrogator and a russian teacher from a nearby academy turn nazi sympathizer . russian torture and execute fellow russian be the depth of war depravity and solonitsyn be brilliant in the despicable role he perfectly suit for . from what we can see and a nazi officer chat jovially in close proximity to one another and he be an outsider even among this group and see instead a a kind of gruesome black cloak undertaker who routinely send men to their graf . the audience be not spar from witness act of torture on sotnikov and who offer nothing but contempt and while rybak speaks freely and hop to save his life and but both be condemn to die and though rybak be offer a chance to serve the german reich a a police agent . the mother and the elderly collaborator and and a child be add to this group and spend one last night together alive where together they discuss the merit of a soldier mission and of be a patriot and a mother and a coward and or a collaborator . each seem individually drive by a desperate need to survive and but sotnikov offer himself a a selfless example and attempt to confess his guilt to spare the others and where the aptly choose title reflect his spiritual redemption . by the next morning and portnov seem mildly amuse and mock them at their sudden willingness to talk and but spar no one except rybak and who change side to keep his life and rationalizing in his thought that if he alive and at least he have a chance to escape . but there be no escapenot from this torment . what happen be show with exquisite delicacy and poetic grace and a we witness the treachery of war without a single shot be fire and a the execution by hang be turn into a public spectacle and where the villager at the point of a gun be force to witness . the pace and harrowing intensity of this film be relentless and a there be never a moment without impend menace and gorgeously shoot by vladimir chukhnov ( who die in the same car accident a shepitko ) and feature perfectly compose landscape and plenty of camera movement and much of it at close range use portraiture and especially that of a fierce young boy at the end who eye the condemned men and who make a surreal connection to the next generation without any word be speak and accentuate by the psychologically horrific music of alfred shnittke which resemble the transcendent yet furiously disturb monolith music from kubrick 2001 represent a space odyssey ( 1968 ) . the sound design of this film be highly advanced and uniquely modern and where the use of off screen sound continually expose the raw nerve of each moment and dog bark and wind blowing and bullet fire and nearby nazi chattering in untranslated german or laugh sadistically at their helplessness and which only ratchet up the hideous tension to insane height . in many way resemble dreyer the passion of joan of arc ( 1928 ) and utter insanity be expose here and the relentless realization that you have no choice and yet you be force to make one anyway . the nightmarish inner thought at the end be express wordlessly and where the nobility of the dead speaks volume and where voice continue to reverberate inside the head of the living like an explosion of neverending echo and yet only silence fill the crisp wintry air with a mournful reverence and a profound sense of loss .