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Crazy
IDFA 2009

Crazy

Heddy Honigmann
Netherlands
1999
100 min
n.a.
Festival history
is a film about violence in which the violence itself is not explicitly shown. The film focuses on the experiences of a number of Dutch UN soldiers in various hotbeds of violence around the world, and the horrors in Korea, Cambodia, Lebanon, and Bosnia are brought to life mainly by their personal accounts. Heddy Honigmann spoke with the "blue helmets" in their native Holland, and the footage depicting the regions involved consists of photographs and home movies that were shot by the soldiers themselves. The vehicle of their recollections is the music they played at the time, which they will forever associate with their war memories. One of them used his music to literally drown out his fear, while another created a musical space with "Stabat Mater," where she could be alone with her thoughts. With a mixture of bravura and emotion, a young man tells about the perilous rides he made through "bomb alley" in Bosnia, invariably playing music by Guns N' Roses at full blast. demonstrates that Holland also has its Vietnam veterans -- men who took their war experiences back home and are struggling to cope with them. It is a film that makes us realize the madness of war, causes doubt about the usefulness of so-called peace missions, and shows the power of music as a means to survive in extremely difficult situations.
Credits
Screening copy
    Pieter van Huystee Film
    Pieter van Huystee Film
Involved TV Channel
    VPRO
    VPRO