To exorcise the demonic nightmares of War, tell the truth and let the bodies fall where they will. Black-and-white movies and photos of Russian civilians killed by invading Nazi forces have been seen in many documentaries since the end of World War II. For the modern "why isn't it in color?" generation, such images are distant, surreal, and uninvolving, in spite of the subject matter. Filming "barbarians in the village" with color film smacks everyone across the face (and psyche) with the "Untermenschen" attitude of, in this case, SS troops. Making the protagonist a child-trying-to-be-a-man where the war hasn't reached yet makes it personal. It's a world without morality, as the Strong steal from the Weak, and armed men "take no prisoners." Is it any wonder that one "survives" such experiences, only to have them return in dreams. There's no "Private Ryan" to save, it's more like "Fires On The Plain" as seen by civilians.

I just saw it last night, and wow, it is impressive. More than that, it's pretty soul-crushing in how it conveys the Nazis' atrocities. The only other film I can think of that has such a level of detail in conveying scenes of war involving a lot of people is The Battle of Algiers. And The Battle is so detailed, it approaches documentary quality. And yes, this film is powerfully acted. My only quibble with it is that it could've been shorter... some scenes were dragged out a bit much for me in a film that's roughly 2 and a half hours long.

@mechajutaro said:

Was unaware of this one's existence until today, and now I'm eager for a look. I take it the title is a reference to Revelation?

I believe so. I mean, I'm no Bible reader -- I find the good book incredibly boring. But I did see somewhere that the title is referring to that.

The Ruskies were no troop of boyscouts either. No one is in a war. Check out Stalingrad too.