17 December 2007 | mona_tabet

Beyond war

I have to say, I was not crazy about watching this film. I don't normally like war movies. This one was particularly painful to watch because it was so very real. Having grown up in a war zone, I was taken back to those days. I knew the look in Florya's eyes. I had seen it in the eyes of people I grew up with. I recognized his responses, as they were so very similar to the ones taken by the survivors around me. I felt the heaviness in the atmosphere, felt the moments laden with life or death for simple actions. Not many words in this film, yet so expressive. It takes you into the life of a young adolescent and you get to live his life and the horrors that he goes through. You see him age before your very eyes. It's not about the physical aspects of war, not about the artillery, the noise, the heroes, but its effects on the soul. That's what stays with you.