Watch Kids' Reviews of
DOLIUM PEPLUM

The creativity of Dolium Peplum is quite incredible, allowing children to play out battle scenes with realistic sound effects, dramatic music and a splash of comradely.

The film takes place in the midst of a vineyard (a mysterious land), where two great armies face one another in the final battle between blue and red. Yes, their swords are foam and their helmets are cardboard, and the soldiers are young people playing out a scene, but their performances are very real, including a touching scene at the end when we see the reality of "war" at its negative.

I have mixed feelings about this film. It is very well made. The idea of taking a child's make-believe and giving it grounds in reality through cinematic exposition is a creative way of validating children's every day games. However, I ask if it glamorizes war in so doing. The camera work, actors, music and plot are well executed. The foley work, in particular, is great and offers clean shots, precise cuts and gorgeous sweeping shots. The makeshift children's armor is outstanding and suits the story. But there are disturbing images enhanced by sounds during the battle scene. The story takes place in a vineyard which, for all intents and purposes, feels remarkably like an actual battlefield. It is an excellent space, using something that is familiar. It is the perfect blank slate. Galloping sounds are added when the red captain rides his bike, as if it were his steed. Booming smashes and clangs ring out while foam swords clash. The music swells into a battle theme as the children play. The sound drives the story. What we are seeing is children playing a game, while the sound pairs well with the visuals and makes the game feel more real. The main characters in this film are two boys, a red captain and a blue captain, unnamed. They absolutely steal the show, putting their heart and soul into first acting as soldiers, and then as friends. They, and the soldier revealed to be a girl, stand out the most. The ending puts it all in perspective when their intrusion in the vineyard is called into question by its owner. Their response to him is again, a bit disturbing. My favorite scene is seeing the red captain doing back-and-forth laps on his bike as if it was a horse.

The message here is that imagination is as real as the friends with whom you share it.

I give Dolium Peplum 5 out of 5 stars and recommend it for ages 13 to 18, plus adults. It brings up a lot of questions about the purpose of warfare and who is harmed the most. Reviewed by Cassidy P. and Julie S., KIDS FIRST! Jurors

The creativity of Dolium Peplum is quite incredible, allowing children to play out battle scenes with realistic sound effects, dramatic music and a splash of comradely.

The film takes place in the midst of a vineyard (a mysterious land), where two great armies face one another in the final battle between blue and red. Yes, their swords are foam and their helmets are cardboard, and the soldiers are young people playing out a scene, but their performances are very real, including a touching scene at the end when we see the reality of "war" at its negative.

I have mixed feelings about this film. It is very well made. The idea of taking a child's make-believe and giving it grounds in reality through cinematic exposition is a creative way of validating children's every day games. However, I ask if it glamorizes war in so doing. The camera work, actors, music and plot are well executed. The foley work, in particular, is great and offers clean shots, precise cuts and gorgeous sweeping shots. The makeshift children's armor is outstanding and suits the story. But there are disturbing images enhanced by sounds during the battle scene. The story takes place in a vineyard which, for all intents and purposes, feels remarkably like an actual battlefield. It is an excellent space, using something that is familiar. It is the perfect blank slate. Galloping sounds are added when the red captain rides his bike, as if it were his steed. Booming smashes and clangs ring out while foam swords clash. The music swells into a battle theme as the children play. The sound drives the story. What we are seeing is children playing a game, while the sound pairs well with the visuals and makes the game feel more real. The main characters in this film are two boys, a red captain and a blue captain, unnamed. They absolutely steal the show, putting their heart and soul into first acting as soldiers, and then as friends. They, and the soldier revealed to be a girl, stand out the most. The ending puts it all in perspective when their intrusion in the vineyard is called into question by its owner. Their response to him is again, a bit disturbing. My favorite scene is seeing the red captain doing back-and-forth laps on his bike as if it was a horse.

The message here is that imagination is as real as the friends with whom you share it.

I give Dolium Peplum 5 out of 5 stars and recommend it for ages 13 to 18, plus adults. It brings up a lot of questions about the purpose of warfare and who is harmed the most. Reviewed by Cassidy P. and Julie S., KIDS FIRST! Jurors

The director grew up in a Wine Estate, in the South of France. His garden was hectares of vineyards and woods. With his playmates, they invented, as all children do, scenarios worthy of the greatest peplums. Their armies were often the rows of well aligned vines that raised their branches, like spears, to the sky. The protagonists appear in the film as they see themselves: as glorious heroes of Peplum or fantasy movies. The clichés common to the chivalry genre were taken up with intensity and seriousness by the actors. Children when they play direct fabulous films mentally without the need for a screen or camera operators. This is what the director wanted to show by staging the magical and terribly creative universe of childish imagination. Playing triggers imagination and suddenly everything becomes possible