Land of the Little People (3 Stars)

This is the 18th film in the Stuttgart Fantasy Film Festival.

Israel is a country that lives in a constant state of war, or at least in constant readiness for war. That's what inspired the director to make this film. It shows how even children are influenced by the militaristic nature of society.

Near the town where the four friends shown above live (three boys and a girl) there's a building that used to be a weapons depot. After an explosion destroyed it it's been standing in ruins, surrounded by a fence and No Trespassing signs. Nevertheless, the friends use it as their personal playground.

One day they find two soldiers in the building. They're hiding because they're deserters. The children don't like the intrusion, so they decide to wage war on the soldiers to drive them out of the building.

There's a naivety to the way the children act which is both beautiful and absurd at the same time. There are certain ambiguities in the film. When discussing the film afterwards we couldn't agree on what certain events meant. It's an interesting film, but I'm not sure I'll want to watch it again.