Ballad of the Little Soldier

BALLAD OF THE LITTLE SOLDIER ... a look at child soldiers fighting against the Sandinistas on behalf of the Miskito Indians, an indigenous group long victimised by the ruling powers in Nicaragua. According to the film, Sandinista troops destroyed over 60 Miskito villages in an effort to launch their program of scientific socialism. The film was viciously attacked as anti-Sandinista propaganda, despite Herzog’s claim that it is not a political work. He claims that the film’s emphasis is not on the specific political or historical background of the Miskito-Sandinista conflict – though he is sympathetic to the Miskitos while endorsing neither side – but rather on the human element that could take place in any country: the tragedy of children marched off to war with the instruments of death placed in their hands. David Church, www.sensesofcinema.com