Solidrariol Am I Missing Something?

Invaderbank The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

Micah Lloyd Excellent characters with emotional depth. My wife, daughter and granddaughter all enjoyed it...and me, too! Very good movie! You won't be disappointed.

Staci Frederick Blistering performances.

Horst in Translation (filmreviews@web.de) "Ballade vom kleinen Soldaten" or "Ballad of the Little Soldier" is a West German television documentary film from 1984, so this one is also already over 30 years old. It was written and directed by Werner Herzog and Denis Reichle and I am sure the involvement of the former is one of the main reasons why this film is still fairly known today and can also be found in the internet. It is the story of Nicaraguan children who have to fight as soldiers in battles because every soldier counts when it comes to victory. But is victory really achievable? Or is just wasting the lives of innocent teenagers? Decide for yourself! My own opinion is that children should never be part of a military force. (We all know Hitler did the same when his grown-up soldiers had almost all died or been captured.) Wars are already bad enough when grown-ups die I think. Admittedly, I personally did not really feel as if this film was a whole lot about Nicaragua, but it was more about the characters and could have taken place at other locations in the world too. That's not a problem at all though. I still believe it was a good watch. It is not one of my favorite Herzog films, but he delivers quality here as usual and I recommend the watch. It's also good that he and Reichle did not decide to stretch the film to a point where it would drag, but instead go for a fairly short film that easily stays under the 50-minute mark from me. Thumbs up.

framptonhollis This is a powerful, 40 minute long documentary about child soldiers fighting for an Indian tribe known as the Miskitos against a communist enemy. In the first half there are interviews, which are quite painful to watch, with people in the tribe who've seen awful events such as their children being killed before their own eyes because of the enemy.The second half manages to be equally upsetting, painful, and disturbing, as Werner Herzog documents the child soldiers, preparing to go to war. The fact that such young children are going through such difficulties is greatly upsetting, and this film manages to be VERY powerful. However, at only 40 minutes, it STILL seems to need some editing! With such a short runtime, it feels quite long!Although there's some flaws, it is pretty great and pretty emotional. If you're into more disturbing documentaries, this is one you have to see!

MartinHafer "The Ballad of the Little Soldier" opening song went on too long Miskito Indian way too long' didn't explain their plight and that the tribe fought for both sides It's odd that I would say that a documentary is badly in need of an editing--and STILL it's an extraordinary film that is well worth seeing. Had the film been trimmed a bit, it would have been amazingly good. It begins with a child soldier singing a song--a song that seems to go on forever. And, when the film ends, he once again sings the same song! This easily could have been trimmed and would have made the film much less long-winded and a lot more likely to keep the attention of the audience. However, what happens in between is VERY compelling. It consists of Werner Herzog and his crew visiting a Contra camp during the bloody Nicaraguan civil war of the 1980s. These folks were anti-communist Miskito Indians--and often ranged from 10-12 years of age! What they only mentioned briefly is that the Miskitos ALSO fought with the communists--making the whole war rather pointless from their point of view. Overall, aside from a need for editing, it's a powerful film--due to the amazingly sad content. Worth seeing and heartbreaking that kids were used like this and continue to be used throughout the world to fight wars that they don't even understand.

batzi8m1 Those who remember Sandinistas and Ollie North should see Herzog's brutal interviews with 11-13 year old indigenous Nicaraguan Contras. Watching these children squirm when asked a question that the pat phrases that had been drilled into their heads will not suffice, is poignant. There is no letup. They keep looking to their CIA trained handlers, who stand over their shoulders, when asked what that phrase means. Germans remember the Hitler Youth, and the lies they swallowed and repeated in such cute sounding slogans about whose meaning they had no clue. This movie is a tribute to all those children that, according to UNESCO, are being forced to fight wars at ever younger ages in ever larger numbers.