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Forget special effects and glycerin tears. To shoot the most realistic war film ever made, Elem Klimov wiped out the line between cinema and trauma. In 1985 the Soviet director set out to portray the Nazi annihilation of Belarus. No heroes, no glory—only the total destruction of a people. To carry that nightmare he cast a 14-year-old, Aleksei Kravchenko. Klimov didn’t want the boy to act terror; he wanted him to live it. On set there were no blanks: shots were fired with live rounds just above the child’s head. Explosions were actual military charges. The psychological pressure was so intense Klimov brought real hypnotherapists onto the set. Their job: intervene between takes to “clean” the boy’s mind so he wouldn’t literally go mad, then send him back in front of the camera. The internet loves the urban legend that the actor’s hair turned gray from fright. Not true (it was stubborn silver paint). The truth is darker: to get that cadaverous, old-man face in the final third, Klimov subjected the boy to a draconian starvation diet and extreme sleep deprivation. He didn’t need to act; his body was collapsing. The result is an unbearable masterpiece. When it premiered in the USSR ambulances had to wait outside cinemas to tend to fainting viewers. Klimov achieved his absolute truth—but paid the maximum price. Wrecked and hollowed out by what he’d filmed, he said he had lost all interest in cinema and never made another film. Direct access Director: Elem Klimov Cast: Aleksei Kravchenko (14) Work: Requiem pour un massacre / Come and See (1985) Which film traumatized you the most—one you’ll probably never watch twice?