Heavy Metal in Baghdad

I found myself surprised to like a film about heavy metal this much. Just personal taste, but it's not music that usually speaks to me.

But this tragic, darkly comic, oddly triumphant and endearing look at a group of young Iraqis trying to keep their band together and play - in the middle of the insanity of war, and then later in exile in Syria - and also seeing the crazy bravery of the two young guys trying to make a film about them - has stuck in my head with very fond feelings.

By making the war and it's effects this personal I came away with a much deeper understanding than I might have from a film trying to cover the whole wide landscape.

I wasn't quite as moved on a second viewing with friends, but it's still a film I think of with tremendous warmth, and recommend whether you like heavy metal or not.