Chris the Swiss (Anja Kofmel)

[Philip J. Fry]

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[Philip J. Fry]

A hybrid of live-action archival footage and animation, Anja Kofmel's art, which for the most part, strains the line between realistic and stylized, paints a vivid and desolate portrait of the last moments of her cousin Christian Würtenberg as he makes his way through a war-torn Croatia fighting for it's independence.

The documentary pulls no punches whatsoever when it comes to both war itself and Würtenberg's reckless behavior which eventually pushes him into a group of mercenaries led by a charismatic madman predictably not ending well. Honestly, most of the tension of this documentary comes not from the realities of war (which are still extensively present), but from Würtenberg's huge naivety, bordering on stupidity, which Kofmal thankfully doesn't shy away from (there's, for example, an interview with another journalist close to the guy where he mention our tittle character was visibly distraught because civilians where being maimed, dispossessed and killed, claiming "Who kills civilians, this isn't a war!" while I was thinking to myself "Dude, have you ever read about any war? Ever?"). It's almost comical how unprepared this guy was to be on a place such as that one which in a way imbues the film with a sense of frustrating inevitability. If I felt like that, I wonder how Kofmal did as she uncovered the truth.