It is never pleasant to watch a film in a war torn setting. The fact that The Three Rooms Of Melancholia is a documentary, featuring children, makes it worse. It actually focuses on children who have, to some extent, been pulled out of the gutter, into, ironically, a training camp for young army cadets. Odd that their salvation from the aftermath of war should be the very vocation that stole their childhood in the first place.

The film is divided into three parts, or "rooms". In the first, we meet a group of boys at camp, learning to shoot at targets, salute their officers, dress in uniforms. The irony of their situation, as both children and soon-to-be soldiers (killers), is constantly thrust into focus. One scene shows them happily singing a song in a music class - "set the horses free, set me free as well" - which is quickly followed by a teacher demonstrating positions of attack, choreographed so deftly that he could be dancing... if he wasn't holding a large rifle.

Every aspect of the boys' lives is depicted in this close-contact examination. We witness their phone calls to their parents (those who have parents to call; a great many are dead, or too inebriated to answer), their worship in church where the greatest thing of interest is seeing girls and the obvious conflict that exists between the Russians and the Chechens.

The second part/room is called Breathing, which examines the destroyed city of Grozny, the capital of Chechnya, in crude black-and-white. There is very little dialogue in this segment; almost half an hour passes with no sound at all... we are simply forced to digest images of this ruined city where children roam the streets searching for scraps, children forced to sweep the streets, children going down wells in gas masks. Finally, we are introduced to Hazhayat, the saviour of the downtrodden, as she knocks from door to door looking for children in need. We see her meet one family where three children sit crying over their dying mother. One of them, I was unsettled to find, shares my name.

The third room is called Remembering and set in Ingushesiyah, on the border of Chechnya. The adults of the village sacrifice a ram to Allah. We can guess what it is they pray for. This is the hardest segment to watch, as the children reflect on what they've lost. As they pray, tears stream down their cheeks, and though they partake in a fast-moving religious rite, they cry as they do so.

A gripping look at the impossibilities of childhood in a war scarred environment, The Three Rooms of Melancholia has been showcased at festivals throughout Europe and deserves the fullest praise.