Come and See
The feature film directed by Elem Klimov, shot in the genre of military drama. The action takes place on the territory of Belarus in 1943. In the center of the story is a Belarusian boy, who witnesses the horrors of the Nazi punitive action, turning from a cheerful teenager into a gray-haired old man for two days.
The film earned $20.9M at the global box office.
Plot Structure
Story beats plotted across runtime
Narrative Arc
Emotional journey through the story's key moments
Story Circle
Blueprint 15-beat structure
Arcplot Score Breakdown
Weighted: Precision (70%) + Arc (15%) + Theme (15%)
Come and See (1985) demonstrates strategically placed narrative design, characteristic of Elem Klimov's storytelling approach. This structural analysis examines how the film's 15-point plot structure maps to proven narrative frameworks across 2 hours and 22 minutes. With an Arcplot score of 6.4, the film takes an unconventional approach to traditional narrative frameworks.
Structural Analysis
The Status Quo at 2 minutes (1% through the runtime) establishes Flyora, a teenage boy, digs in the sand with another boy searching for rifles left behind by soldiers. His mother protests but he is eager for adventure and to join the partisans. The ordinary world shows rural Belarus, 1943, where war is distant excitement rather than immediate horror.. Notably, this early placement immediately immerses viewers in the story world.
The inciting incident occurs at 15 minutes when Flyora is taken by partisan recruiters to join their ranks. He leaves his family behind despite his mother's anguish. The external event that pulls him from childhood safety into the world of war has occurred. There is no turning back.. At 10% through the film, this Disruption aligns precisely with traditional story structure. This beat shifts the emotional landscape, launching the protagonist into the central conflict.
The First Threshold at 31 minutes marks the transition into Act II, occurring at 22% of the runtime. This reveals the protagonist's commitment to Flyora and Glasha hear planes overhead and massive explosions. They witness the bombing of the partisan camp and surrounding area. Flyora decides to return home to check on his family. This active choice to leave the relative safety of the forest and return to his village marks his entry into the true nightmare of war., moving from reaction to action.
At 62 minutes, the Midpoint arrives at 44% of the runtime—arriving early, accelerating into Act IIb complications. Significantly, this crucial beat Flyora, in complete shock and grief, encounters other survivors and partisans. An old man tells him the Germans are burning villages. The stakes crystallize: this is not isolated horror but systematic extermination. The false hope that his family might have escaped is destroyed. The game changes from survival to witnessing genocide. No victory here, only false hope shattered., fundamentally raising what's at risk. The emotional intensity shifts, dividing the narrative into clear before-and-after phases.
The Collapse moment at 96 minutes (68% through) represents the emotional nadir. Here, The Khatyn massacre sequence. Flyora and hundreds of villagers are herded into a church by Nazi forces. The building is set on fire with everyone inside. Flyora escapes but witnesses the complete annihilation of his community—men, women, children burned alive or shot while trying to escape. This is the absolute nadir: the death of all innocence, hope, and humanity. The literal "whiff of death" as hundreds burn., illustrates the protagonist at their lowest point. This beat's placement in the final quarter sets up the climactic reversal.
The Second Threshold at 101 minutes initiates the final act resolution at 71% of the runtime. Flyora finds a portrait of Hitler in the mud. He begins shooting at it repeatedly. As he shoots, archival footage plays in reverse showing Hitler's rise to power going backward—synthesizing the understanding that this evil had a source and history. He sees Hitler as a baby in his mother's arms and stops shooting. The realization: evil is human, and to destroy it would mean destroying humanity itself., demonstrating the transformation achieved throughout the journey.
Emotional Journey
Come and See's emotional architecture traces a deliberate progression across 15 carefully calibrated beats.
Narrative Framework
This structural analysis employs structural analysis methodology used to understand storytelling architecture. By mapping Come and See against these established plot points, we can identify how Elem Klimov utilizes or subverts traditional narrative conventions. The plot point approach reveals not only adherence to structural principles but also creative choices that distinguish Come and See within the drama genre.
Comparative Analysis
Additional drama films include Eye for an Eye, South Pacific and Kiss of the Spider Woman.
Plot Points by Act
Act I
SetupStatus Quo
Flyora, a teenage boy, digs in the sand with another boy searching for rifles left behind by soldiers. His mother protests but he is eager for adventure and to join the partisans. The ordinary world shows rural Belarus, 1943, where war is distant excitement rather than immediate horror.
Theme
Flyora's mother weeps and warns him about the reality of war, saying "You'll see it all." A neighbor or elder reinforces that war destroys innocence and childhood. The thematic premise: war is not glory but the complete annihilation of humanity and innocence.
Worldbuilding
Establishment of Flyora's world: his family home, his youthful enthusiasm, the partisan recruiters arriving. He is given a uniform that doesn't fit. We see his naïve excitement, his younger siblings, and the Belarusian countryside before the horror begins. The world seems almost dreamlike and pastoral.
Disruption
Flyora is taken by partisan recruiters to join their ranks. He leaves his family behind despite his mother's anguish. The external event that pulls him from childhood safety into the world of war has occurred. There is no turning back.
Resistance
Flyora arrives at the partisan camp and meets Glasha, a young girl. He is left behind when the partisans go on a mission because he lacks a rifle. The period of initiation and hesitation: he is not yet truly in the war. Time spent with Glasha in the forest, experiencing first romance and relative innocence, while distant sounds of war approach.
Act II
ConfrontationFirst Threshold
Flyora and Glasha hear planes overhead and massive explosions. They witness the bombing of the partisan camp and surrounding area. Flyora decides to return home to check on his family. This active choice to leave the relative safety of the forest and return to his village marks his entry into the true nightmare of war.
Mirror World
Glasha accompanies Flyora, representing connection, humanity, and the remnants of innocence. She tries to protect him from what they will find. Their relationship serves as the thematic counterpoint: human connection and compassion in the face of absolute inhumanity. She begs him not to go to the village.
Premise
The descent into hell. Flyora and Glasha journey through the forest. They become separated. Flyora reaches his village to discover his entire family and all the villagers have been massacred, their bodies piled in a barn. He is in shock, unable to process. He wanders in a daze, partially deaf from explosions. The "premise" of this film is experiencing the totality of war's horror through a child's eyes.
Midpoint
Flyora, in complete shock and grief, encounters other survivors and partisans. An old man tells him the Germans are burning villages. The stakes crystallize: this is not isolated horror but systematic extermination. The false hope that his family might have escaped is destroyed. The game changes from survival to witnessing genocide. No victory here, only false hope shattered.
Opposition
Flyora joins other villagers trying to survive in the marshes. They attempt to find food and safety. The German forces close in, methodically destroying villages. Flyora witnesses increasing atrocities. The sequence in the marsh where they try to cross with a cow. The pressure intensifies as the Nazi forces systematically eliminate all life. Flyora's face ages visibly from the trauma.
Collapse
The Khatyn massacre sequence. Flyora and hundreds of villagers are herded into a church by Nazi forces. The building is set on fire with everyone inside. Flyora escapes but witnesses the complete annihilation of his community—men, women, children burned alive or shot while trying to escape. This is the absolute nadir: the death of all innocence, hope, and humanity. The literal "whiff of death" as hundreds burn.
Crisis
In the aftermath of the massacre, Flyora wanders among the corpses. His face is completely transformed—he has aged decades. He is catatonic with trauma. The partisans find him and execute captured collaborators. Flyora processes the absolute destruction of everything he knew. The dark night of witnessing the depths of human evil.
Act III
ResolutionSecond Threshold
Flyora finds a portrait of Hitler in the mud. He begins shooting at it repeatedly. As he shoots, archival footage plays in reverse showing Hitler's rise to power going backward—synthesizing the understanding that this evil had a source and history. He sees Hitler as a baby in his mother's arms and stops shooting. The realization: evil is human, and to destroy it would mean destroying humanity itself.
Synthesis
Flyora, now irreversibly transformed, rejoins the partisan unit. They march through the snow-covered forest, a grim procession of survivors. No triumphant finale—only continuation. The resolution is that there is no resolution to such trauma, only endurance. The partisans march on to continue fighting, but victory is meaningless after what has been lost.
Transformation
Flyora's face in profile as he marches with the partisans through the birch forest. Where the Status Quo showed a bright-eyed boy digging for rifles in the sand, this shows a traumatized, ancient-eyed survivor who has "come and seen" the absolute worst of humanity. His childhood is completely dead. The transformation is complete devastation—a negative arc showing the total destruction of innocence.