Watched this in University and people laughed.

I'm not a fan of the film, and think it could be inflamatory to Germans, who could, in turn, have innocents butchered by the same type of maniacs who laughed while they butchered in this film.

Maybe those guys who laugh shouldn't be shown this. I don't buy this "hiding true feelings" or "defense mechanism". These scenes, in no way, could evoke laughter from anyone who wasn't a raving lunatic.

Which sort of helps show the sort of mentality of the monsters who committed the atrocities. That's why it's important to show this to only mature audiences.

Audiences who understand that it wasn't "German" to do this, just like Jesus told those who would have him crucified that they were not sons of Abraham. No, it is the brotherhood of monsters, of those who could laugh at something like this. This was no Monty Python dark humor about an unreal piece with a knight's arms and legs cut off. This was realism brutality. I would never turn my back, or be in a helpless state around any person who could laugh at this.

And I'm talking about the hysterical laughter you are talking about, not the nervous titter of someone about to cry.

It is important that this be discussed by those who view it. There are too many who would join the brotherhood of monsters in a cycle of revenge, and they don't care who they attack, as long as it is someone helpless.

That's what this film shows. And it is very effective, but I resist giving it 10/10 for the reason that it could be horribly misused and cause even more horrors if the wrong type of people ever saw this in mass numbers.

And those maniacs who laughed, who we know exist, if we believe those who posted about witnessing it in this thread, is proof of that. How can you laugh at this? It can't be done by a sane person. Imagine a gun or knife in the hands of someone who could laugh at this?

Yes, we see them in the film.



Games, must we?

watersmells likesky -

I'm beyond offended too.
Perhaps this is an American thing - WW2 wasn't fought on the American mainland.

When this film came out, there were a lot of people around me (England) who fought in WW2, lived through WW2. It was just round the corner of memory.
So I can't imagine anyone laughing here.

He laughs because he know he can leave the movie and go back to his video games and cheezy poofs instead of coming home to a dead family, a massacred town and his country in the hands of a ruthless enemy and have to scrabble in the woods to hide and survive.

Hey baby,
there are not many reasons why people laugh, but one of the main ones is cause they are uncomfortable, which is something your psychotic classmate probably never escapes being. Poor thing. Don't be offended, try to do some good analysis!

Maybe they were laughing at the fact that such a movie was be made in a place where the most vile inhumane treatment of disseneters based on their religious or political conviction was everyday practice in Russian prisons and concentration camps (gulag), including torture beyond imagination, drugging people into oblivion and casual murder? Maybe he also found it funny that people from such a country would completely ignore the conduct of their own red army troops and partisans. But hey, we've found that the Germans were evil, so that puts everything else in perspective, right? Let's just feel deeply touched by a propaganda piece and close our eyes to the reality.

I find the fact that people laughed more disturbing than a very disturbing film. It is kind of sick if you ask me. It is about time people grew up. Rather go and watch an Adam Sandler movie instead.








If you wanted to get me on my back you just had to ask.

Frankly, I don't think this kind of film should be shown in class.

First of all, it's hard to relate to a work like this. Even moreso when one is really young.

And I would argue that this film should be experienced in a more solitary context, to give one a chance to think and breathe.

As an educational tool, I don't think this film is terribly appropriate. It is not a historical piece, but a powerful emotional vehicle.

---

Personally speaking, I found watching this film was like seeing someone being violated. I confess to not enjoying it.

On certain merits, the film succeeds brilliantly. It is no joke. Very visceral and real. But it filled me with dread, which is not something I look for in art. Others might feel differently. I love Tarkovsky, but more admire than like Come and See.

Also, I suspect some might have been laughing at the manner of some of the characters. Slavics are very different people in physical manner and manner of speech. Very expressive.

And perhaps laughing is just another way of dealing with things that are uncomfortable or difficult. For some at least.

I just had a similar experience during a screening at my university. The scene where the little boy is tossed back into the burning building pulled laughter out of three or four degenerates. I'd like to think that this was simply their way of dealing with what they were seeing, but I doubt it.