by Clarke Fountain
synopsis
Just after the time of the American Civil War, in 1864, a war broke out between Paraguay and an alliance of three neighboring states: Brazil, Uruguay and Argentina. In that war, a million people were killed. The war is almost unknown to Brazilian schoolchildren and is little spoken of elsewhere. This documentary, using footage from South American films exploring the conflict, attempts to inform and enlighten viewers about this tragic historical war. Other footage is the result of the filmmaker's interviews with descendents of soldiers, with historians, and with scholars. Though not visually compelling, this movie contains a great deal of hitherto obscure and unexplored information about a nearly unknown but very devastating conflict.
