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The original title of Come and See (a NT Revelations quote) was Kill Hitler, 'and what we meant by that', says the director, 'was to kill the Hitler within yourself, because we all have our demons'. He makes it very clear in this interview that he had to do this project to exorcise his own demons, childhood memories of the War, and to keep faith with the many harrowing tales of survivors, that 'the subject was too sacred to allow any falsehood'.

Which is why it is hard to watch this film in 2024. The truth Elim Klimov was so committed to showing in 1985, is now, under the present russian regime, being used to justify the kidnapping and killing of their own former comrades in their neighboring country. The hypocritical perversion of this artist's vision, and the true stories that it is based on, has made a mockery of this film, that was a landmark in its time.

Every tired characteristic of a religious fanatic was bundled into one in this movie: Death-obsessed mousy wallflower, check; epileptic seizures taken for religious ecstasy, check; schizophrenic hearing of voices, check; bug crawling on the wall, check. The film-making showed me nothing of interest either. Tawdry and depressing? Yes, well, welcome to Planet Earth, Maud!

Embers (2015) This exploration of the mysteries and phenomenon of Memory is among the most intellectually and emotionally stimulating films seen this year; I won't synopsize, but rather express different facets or aspects of the film that occur, helped by many imdb comments.

In an Evolutionary or anthropological aspect, the 'Chaos' character displays life as raw animal Nature: Red in tooth, solitary, brutish and short (also primal and beautiful as in the horse). Next, fleeting human connections are made between the Guy and Girl; Fire is....marveled at...but that's all. The Dawn of Consciousness finally breaks in the former Teacher: Simple patterns of behavior reinforced through repetition; tool usage; purposeful sparking of Promethean Fire. Finally the end stage of full and perfect - and stultifying - memory in Miranda and her Father, where the past is clutched at, memories retained, turned over obsessively, but no new ones created, no destructive-creative Fire but only cool sterile halo-like circles of light in an underground Paradise - the Shakespearean Miranda knows Paradise has no place on Earth.

From a medical or psychological perspective, the filmmaker shows us the frustration and rage displayed in patients with neurological issues, the infantile mental squirrel cage of Woman In The Long Dress, the stunted growth and refusal to move past loss of the Father, the mute, direction-less Helen Keller-like child.

On a more philosophical bent, Order contends with Chaos, Freedom with Safety. This is an aimless, broken world at first glance. But there are glimmers....Human relationships - even Love - are possible with a touch of memory and inspiration: The Boy, mute and wandering from one dead-end encounter to another, shows he can be reached, can be taught, can extricate himself from the minotaurian maze, with a string and the guiding hand of a Teacher; the perfect circle of perfect safety can be cut, can be extended into an ascendant DNA-like spiral of fragile Hope.

And finally, we realize the gods' sad but kindly gift of Forgetting: For cleansing our pain and loss, and making room for new growth.