Was that Glasha?
Spoiler: Was that Glasha who we see at the end with the blood running down her legs? At first I thought it was the mother who the Nazis separated from her child and threw in the back of the truck with the men attacking her.
shareGlasha you mean? No, it wasn't her.
Thanks God, I'm an Atheist! - Luis Bunuel
Sorry to disagree, but actually it is Glasha. I am watching the film right now and have just paused it (mainly to have a break from the mental anguish).....She goes into the building carrying a small child, and as we know, she then tries to escape with the child but he ends up getting thrown back. Florya actually says her name when he sees her with the blood running down her legs, but you have to be quick to hear it.
Yes, he does say the name Glasha because he 'thinks' it's her, but it's not her. Two completely different actress.
More science, less fiction.
He doesn't think it's her: he is reminded of her. He repeats the line she said earlier about wanting to love and have a child. It simply wouldn't work dramatically if it was Glasha - for him to turn around and walk away from someone he actually thought was Glasha would make no sense.
The artistic reason for the similarity is so that Glasha's innocence can foreshadow this person who has been destroyed by war. Glasha's dreams of a normal life are contrasted with the "reality" of war, and we are reminded of Glasha's probable fate (i.e. starving to death like millions of Russians during the war).
both girls have been subjected to gang rape at the hands of the germans.
shareNo. I'm sorry, it isn't Glasha. I'm doing an essay at uni at the moment and I ran the film in two programs, paused it on close-ups of the two actresses, put them side by side and it is definitely not the same actress.
If we could get a Russian speaker who can read the credits on here, it would be nice to put the issue to rest beyond doubt. It is interesting to note that a few publications I am quoting in my essay also believe that it is Glasha.
EDIT: There is a possibility that the director meant for us to *think* it was Glasha, but however the real actress who played Glasha was unable to take part in the scene due to personal reasons (age, etc.).
There is a possibility that the director meant for us to *think* it was Glasha, but however the real actress who played Glasha was unable to take part in the scene due to personal reasons (age, etc.).
I don't think so. For one, how would Glasha have gotten to that village anyway? She was back on that island waiting for them to bring back food. It's possible she would have left a day or so later, realizing food wasn't coming, but there's no reason she would have taken the exact same passage he did.
For another, we're shown that the woman who tried to save her son was drug away by her hair into some room, and it's obvious we're meant to understand that she was going to be raped.
I really think this issue is very simple. I think he thought back to the flirtatious Glasha who talked of having children and remembered that as he saw a woman who'd just be forced to have sex against her will. What was an innocent thought was now twisted by the brutality of war.
Plus, the woman at the end has very prominent bangs, and Glasha's were barely noticeable. If they'd wanted us to think they were the same person, they would have hidden that. share
I completely agree with this.
shareI don't think so. For one, how would Glasha have gotten to that village anyway? ....
I want to thank you for a number of comments you've made in regard to this film. Excellent reading and observations.
More science, less fiction. share
We don't know that for a fact.
shareHe doesn't think it's her: he is reminded of her. He repeats the line she said earlier about wanting to love and have a child. It simply wouldn't work dramatically if it was Glasha -
The artistic reason for the similarity is so that Glasha's innocence can foreshadow this person who has been destroyed by war. Glasha's dreams of a normal life are contrasted with the "reality" of war, and we are reminded of Glasha's probable fate (i.e. starving to death like millions of Russians during the war).
Yes, I like this a lot better than what I said. Good stuff!
for him to turn around and walk away from someone he actually thought was Glasha would make no sense.
Excellent point, which I think should answer the question of whether it was her or not. Which it wasn't, obviously.
More science, less fiction. share
Some additional comments if I may...
>>>The artistic reason for the similarity is so that Glasha's innocence can foreshadow this person who has been destroyed by war. Glasha's dreams of a normal life are contrasted with the "reality" of war
This is correct, but there's a little more to it, as Glasha is actually depicted as somebody who is both innocent and girlish, and dark and worn-out. Her wishes for a normal life, for having children, seem less like girlish aspirations and more like mourning for something she should have had but has been denied.
Remember - Glasha was captured, and later rescued by the partisans. It's heavily implied that horrible things happened to her, and it doesn't take much to work out that what has happened to the girl at the end has likely already happened to Glasha.
>>>for him to turn around and walk away from someone he actually thought was Glasha would make no sense.
Again correct, and is indeed a good reason why this girl at the end is not Glasha (but also, how would Glasha have ended up there anyway?). But I think that just as we are reminded of Glasha by the girl at the end, we are also given the insidious thought that perhaps, even if it really had been Glasha, Florya would have been so brutalised and numb by that point that he would still have walked away.
The young woman in the end had had a child whom she tried to rescue, before she had been savagely raped; Glasha was a young innocent girl who indeed suffered a lot.
Thanks God, I'm an Atheist! - Luis Bunuel
Does anybody know what happened to the actress who played Glasha, Olga Morinova? The actor who played Florya has got many more credits on IMDB following this movie, but Come and See is the only credit for Morinova. Just wondered, as I thought she was a remarkable presence in the earlier parts of the movie.
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