Come and See (1987) Timeline Explained – Every Event in Order

Flyora is driven by youthful idealism and a desire for heroic action against the Nazi occupation. After discovering the abandoned SVT-40 rifle with a friend, he becomes convinced that fighting for the partisans is his path to glory and purpose. This romantic view of war stems from his age and inexperience, as he has not yet witnessed the actual brutality that awaits him.

Foreshadowing: The village elder warns the boys that retrieving the rifles will draw German attention, foreshadowing the devastating consequences of Flyora's decision.

• flyora
• partisans
• joining
• motivation
• idealism
• youth

Upon joining the partisans, Flyora is treated as a junior militiaman and assigned menial duties rather than combat roles. Commander Kosach further disappoints him by instructing him to stay behind at the camp while the others move out. This reflects how new, inexperienced recruits are viewed by seasoned fighters, too untrained and unreliable for real combat operations.

• flyora
• kosach
• partisan camp
• duties
• junior militiaman

German dive bombers and paratroopers suddenly assault the partisan camp while Flyora and Glasha are in the forest attempting to connect emotionally. The attack leaves Flyora partially deaf and forces both him and Glasha to flee deep into the forest. The traumatic experience triggers psychological breakdowns in both characters, causing them to alternate between catatonia and manic episodes.

• ambush
• dive bombers
• paratroopers
• flyora
• glasha
• forest
• partial deafness

Glasha, a young partisan nurse who is emotionally fragile, mocks Flyora's attempts at maturity because she is overwhelmed by the harsh realities of war and desperately craves love and family that seems impossible in their circumstances. Her taunting that Flyora 'isn't truly alive' reflects her own despair and serves as a bitter reminder that surviving the war has stripped them both of normal human experiences.

• glasha
• flyora
• emotional breakdown
• mockery
• partisan nurse

When Flyora returns home with Glasha, he finds the village abandoned and infested with flies, a clear sign of death and destruction. In denial about what happened, he insists his family is simply hiding nearby and runs frantically across the bog searching for them. This visual horror establishes that a massacre has occurred while Flyora was away.

Foreshadowing: The village elder had warned that the boys' activities would provoke German retaliation, which the audience knows now has come to pass.

• village
• abandoned
• flies
• family
• death
• execution

Glasha turns her head at the wrong moment and stumbles upon the scene of executed villagers behind Flyora's former home, confirming that his entire family has been killed. This devastating revelation drives both characters into hysteria as they trudge through the bog. Glasha desperately tries to make Flyora accept the truth about his family's death, though he initially refuses to believe it.

• family
• execution
• discovery
• glasha
• death
• hysteria
• bog

After learning from the village elder that his family has been executed, Flyora is consumed by guilt. He blames himself for provoking the German retaliation by retrieving the rifle, believing his actions directly led to his family's death. Overwhelmed by this realization, he immerses his head in the bog in a suicide attempt, but is rescued and consoled by Glasha and the remaining villagers.

Foreshadowing: The village elder had earlier warned that retrieving the rifles would bring trouble, making Flyora's guilt over his family's fate even more devastating.

• suicide
• bog
• guilt
• family death
• flyora
• villagers

Partisan fighter Rubezh leads Flyora and two other men to raid an unsecured warehouse for supplies. The mission fails catastrophically when they encounter German troops guarding the facility. The partisans are forced to retreat, and two of Flyora's companions are killed by a landmine explosion during their escape, demonstrating the constant danger and high cost of partisan operations.

• raid
• warehouse
• landmine
• german troops
• rubezh
• failure

After the warehouse disaster, Rubezh and Flyora attempt another mission to steal a cow from a local farm. The operation ends in tragedy when German machine gunners shoot both Rubezh and the cow. This loss deepens Flyora's despair and removes the one experienced partisan who had been guiding and protecting him.

• rubezh
• cow
• machine gunners
• death
• shooting
• partisan

After Rubezh's death, Flyora is taken to the village of Perekhody and given a fake identity to hide his partisan affiliation from the Germans. A local man instructs him to conceal his gun and jacket, effectively making him appear as a civilian to avoid detection. This desperate measure reflects the constant need for cover in occupied territory.

• fake identity
• perekhody
• disguise
• civilian
• flyora
• concealment

An SS Einsatzkommando, supported by Russian Liberation Army collaborators and Belarusian Auxiliary Police, surrounds Perekhody. Flyora is herded into a barn church with other villagers despite his warnings. The Germans barricade the exits and order villagers to exit through a window while leaving their children behind. Chaos erupts when a mother attempts to save her child, her child is thrown back into the barn as she is dragged away, and the soldiers proceed with brutal violence against the helpless villagers.

• barn church
• massacre
• ss
• einsatzkommando
• children
• violence
• perekhody

During the massacre, a German officer approaches Flyora and deliberately places a loaded pistol against his head, not to kill him, but for a photograph. This chilling moment demonstrates the random, arbitrary nature of violence and the psychological terror inflicted on victims. The officer then abandons Flyora amidst the smoke and flames, leaving him as a living witness to the horror, fundamentally altering his understanding of human cruelty.

• german officer
• pistol
• photograph
• mindless violence
• psychological terror
• flyora