Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		3.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		0.0
Overall		3.5

Ballad of the Little Soldier Blu-ray Movie Review

War games.

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman July 20, 2014

Note: This title is currently available as part of Herzog: The Collection.

Has there ever been a more fascinating figure in film than Werner Herzog? This much debated individual, one who elicits both hyperbolic accolades and equally exaggerated derision, has been a seeming force of nature in film for decades, helping to define the New German Cinema (a somewhat later analog to the French New Wave). Herzog’s filmography is rather breathtakingly diverse, traversing both traditional fiction, quasi-biographies, and a large number of documentaries. Through it all, Herzog himself has become the subject of considerable controversy, at times seeming to be as obsessively motivated as some of his film subjects. The auteur’s off kilter blend of nihilism and often black humor has given him and his films a decidedly unique place in contemporary media, to the point that a supposed note Herzog jotted off to his cleaning lady became an internet sensation (it’s actually a brilliantly written parody by Dale Shaw). Shout! Factory, a label which repeatedly stubbed its corporate toe on its last big deluxe boxed set built around the talents of one person (Bruce Lee: The Legacy Collection, the only time in my reviewing career I have had to start over from scratch due to a complete recall and reissue) may seem to be throwing caution to the wind by upping the ante with this release. Here there are no fewer than 16 films by Herzog, housed in a handsome hardback booklike case that also features a wealth of text and information about each of the films. Fifteen of the films are new to Blu-ray (Shout's horror imprint Scream Factory released Herzog's Nosferatu the Vampyre as a standalone a few months ago), and the offerings here cover both iconic films in Herzog's oeuvre as well as some oddities. The extremely handsome packaging offers a 7.5" x 7.5" x 1.5" hardback book exterior casing which houses heavy cardstock pocket holders that contain the discs. Also included are The Werner Herzog Condition by Stephen J. Smith, an appreciation of the director's work with essays about each of the films. The films get even more text in write-ups by Chris Wahl and Brad Prager. Each of the pocket holder pages details the film (or in some cases, films) on each disc, with audio options and special features listed.

There’s a bit of a cognitive disconnect as Ballad of the Little Soldier begins. A sweet faced young boy sits in a kind of hut and turns on a boom box and begins singing along with a typically florid Spanish language song detailing the ups and downs of a love affair. The boy sings genuinely—and rather well, in fact, occasionally coming in just a bit late on a line, but keeping in perfect tune and rhythm once he’s there. So what’s the issue? The boy is dressed in Army fatigues and carries an automatic rifle as he warbles one of his favorite tunes. What exactly is going on here?

One salient line in that song goes “Nothing is fun anymore”, and that might provide the epitaph for Werner Herzog’s fascinating if sometimes heartbreaking exposé of the ravages the long roiling Nicaraguan conflict of the 1980s had on the little known Miskito Indians from the northeastern region of that country. The film has a very interesting subtext in that the Miskito were initially aligned with the Sandinistas, a group one might conclude Herzog might tend to support, at least when compared to the Somoza regime. But once the Sandinistas took control of the country, they turned out to be just as viciously oppressive, if not more so, to this ethnic minority than the Somozans had been. Herzog almost seems like an unwilling participant at times here, though he keeps the camera running.

The most overtly shocking aspect of Ballad of the Little Soldier is indeed the little soldiers themselves, a group of young Miskito boys who are being trained (by former Somozan militants) the ins and outs of guerrilla warfare. There are numerous jaw dropping moments here, including watching a line of them fire live ammunition during a shooting practice. But there are more subtle heartbreaks here as well, with lots of interviews of older Miskito peoples who have been pillaged mercilessly during the conflict.

Those with at least a cursory knowledge (and/or memory) of the general sociopolitical circumstances in Nicaragua during this period may well glean more out of this chilling documentary than others, though there is an obvious universality to much of the horror Herzog shows here. There's a surprising lack of overt political content in the film, but also a recognition that the some of the gambits on display here (including use of young fighters) have been the shame of other cultures as well.

Ballad of the Little Soldier Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Ballad of the Little Soldier was originally filmed for television and appears here in an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.35:1. Though there's nothing definitive (or at least what I'd call definitive) online, it appears that this was done originally in 16mm, for it has a suitably ragged, soft and often ultra-grainy look that can define that format. This does not have quite the sharpness and definition of Land of Silence and Darkness, another documentary sourced from 16mm that's in the new Herzog boxed set, and it similarly does not offer quite the vividly saturated color that that other documentary does. That said, occasionally there are neat little pops of color, including an orange hue that seems to be popular with the Miskito for their clothing. Contrast is okay, but not great, and shadow detail can be lacking quite a bit of the time. There are some slightly odd anomalies with grain resolution at around the 40 minute mark, but otherwise this looks authentic, if never very breathtaking.

Ballad of the Little Soldier Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Ballad of the Little Soldier features DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 mono mixes in both German and English (and even this is somewhat misleading, since much of the documentary is of course in Spanish). Those "advertised" languages actually refer to Herzog's narration, which sounds fine in both versions. That said, the German track is slightly more full bodied, especially in the midrange, something that helps the many musical moments have a bit more life.

Ballad of the Little Soldier Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

There are no supplements associated with this film, which shares a disc with Where the Green Ants Dream.

Ballad of the Little Soldier Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

This is a genuinely sad documentary that has a number of layers of frustration that Herzog just kind of lays out there in a simple, unobfuscated way. Herzog never exploits his subjects here, but it's easy to see he's simpatico with the general feeling of hopelessness that suffuses the Miskito lives on display in the film. Technical merits are good here (with a realization of limitations in the source elements). Recommended.