Review – Aftermath: The Remnants of War

After watching a long string of Michael-Moore-esque documentaries, it was a genuine pleasure to watch some simple, straightforward, gimmick-free non-fiction film-making. No ambush interviews or other stupid stunts. Just telling the story of some of the awful, tragic by-products of war. What a relief. And here the story really does tell itself. We’re taken to former battlefields in France, Russia, Vietnam and Bosnia to witness the aftereffects of 20th-century conflict. We see bomb, shell and mine removal in progress (in some cases nearly a century after the rounds were originally fired). We meet children crippled by their parents’ exposure to the dioxin in Agent Orange and whole populations mentally scarred by the ravages of armed conflict. This would make a great double feature with any of the hundreds of Top Gun-style movies that make war look like a big video game with no consequences. Mildly amusing