Crazy

Focusing on the experiences of a number of Dutch U.N. soldiers in various conflict areas around the world, Crazy bring the horrors in Korea, Cambodia, Lebanon and Bosnia to life through their personal accounts and their photographs and home movies from the hotbeds of violence where they were stationed.

Heddy Honigmann (1951-2022) speaks with the Blue Berets as they struggle to cope with their war experiences after returning to the Netherlands. The vehicle for their recollections is the music they listened to at the time, which they will forever associate with their war memories. One used music to drown out his fear, while another created a musical space with Pergolesi’s “Stabat Mater” where she could be alone with her thoughts. And with a mixture of bravura and emotion, a young man tells about the perilous drives he made through “bomb alley” in Bosnia, invariably accompanied by Guns N’ Roses songs at full blast.

Crazy makes us realize the madness of war, creates doubt about the usefulness of so-called peace missions and shows the power of music as a means of survival in extremely difficult situations.