Blaze Versus Come and See

Hippy teddy bear versus dazed youth

Ethan Hawke's Blaze is such a resounding dud that it is almost comical. A seamy, sarcastic performer, Blaze Foley, is reduced to a hippy teddy bear. Only Charlie Sexton as Townes Van Zandt emerges with dignity. Better to seek out Foley's recordings or Gurf Morlix's tribute, Blaze Foley's 113th Wet Dream.

Elem Klimov's Come and See, from 1985, follows the traumatic journey of a Belarusian youth  during the Nazi invasion of 1943. Alternately lyrical and vulgar, Come and See always retains a crude power thanks to its fine cinematography and propulsive drive. Klimov largely shifts between two different kinds of shots: dollies that follow movement and front on close-ups (see above) that highlight the shock and fatigue of its subjects.

Parts of Come and See resemble propaganda films of the Great Patriotic War. The more interesting moments resemble the black wartime humor of Kubrick and Kusturica. Things don't always jell, but Come and See has a visceral impact as it catalogues the horrors of war.  (6/30/19)