This is not an easy subject to witness, and Herzog offers the images and stories with care and generosity and complexity. These children are both adorable but hard, and they leave a deep impression. All of the children here have been through countless horrors. Most have seen their families killed, saying the Sandanistas killed their families for fun. The scene that will break you, is when the children say they are braver than the adults in battle.

As an accompaniment to this film, recommended to watch Las Sandanistas!, a documentary about the revolutionary women in the post-dictatorship war and new government.

Herzog has this amazing way of condemning that which is objectively morally wrong, but not taking a side in a debate about an international conflict. I find that the more history I know, the fewer generalizations I can make – except to be against all wars.

For further reading:

About the Nicaraguan Revolution

Open Veins of Latin America, Eduardo Galeano

Death of Somoza, Claribel Alegria and Darwin Flakoll