"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.

German film-maker Werner Herzog is well-known for his obsession with, well, obsession, finding joy and producing some great documentaries over the years championing the quirkiness of the human spirit. With Ballad of the Little Soldier, the focus is not on the idiosyncratic but on the child soldiers serving in Nicaragua fighting for the native Miskito Indians against the oppressive Sandinistas. Although he may deny it, this is Herzog's most political film to date. With co-director Denis Reichle, who served the Nazi's in the Volkssturm, Herzog's interviews various Miskito inhabitants who have fallen victim of the brutal Sandinistan regime.At only 45 minutes long, Herzog and Reichle manage to paint a large picture of what life was like for the Miskito's. A woman wails about her family, butchered at the hands of the Socialist Sandinistas, whose government initiative to move the Miskito's into civilised society has led to their villages being sacked and torched, and the mass murder of men, women and children. The persistent nature of Herzog and Reichle's interview techniques do often make things uncomfortable, but it certainly makes for devastating viewing.Narratively, the film is all over the place. The cinema verite style contradicts the film's title, shifting focus away from the children far too often in favour of the adult soldiers, who march past the camera with similar resigned, weathered expressions. But this is still powerful stuff, with Herzog's narration lending the film a dream-like quality amidst the seriousness of the subject matter, and Reichle's recollection of his time in the Volksstrum as a child making for difficult viewing, especially told in the context of the events that were unfolding in Nicaragua. Although this is far from Herzog's best documentary, he manages to achieve more in 45 minutes than most documentarians could only dream of.www.the-wrath-of-blog.blogspot.com

"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.

Ballad of a Little Soldier (1984) ** 1/2 (out of 4) Werner Herzog documentary takes a look at the children soldiers caught up in the Miskito Indian battle in Nicaragua. The first part of the film takes a look at the adults doing their thing but it grows rather boring pretty quickly. The interviews by Herzog are honest and straight forward but nothing really picks up the drama actually going on with the kids.Dark Glow of the Mountain, The (1984) *** 1/2 (out of 4)Interesting documentary from Werner Herzog follows world famous mountain climbers Reinhold Messner and Hans Kammerlander as they scale both of the Gasherbrum mountains, which are 8,000 meters each. The documentary really doesn't focus on the difficulty of the climb but instead the psychology of what it takes to be willing to do something as dangerous as this. Herzog asks some hard questions about their mental state and if they have a death wish and their answers are kind of unique.No One Will Play With Me (1976) *** (out of 4) Werner Herzog directed short about a young boy who plays alone in his classroom because no on there wants to play with him. One day a girl goes back to his house to see his pet raven and then we learn why he is the way he is. This is a rather bleak and depressing little film and Herzog perfectly captures the mood of the "secret", which I won't reveal here.