How do Europeans deal with their recent dark history (the wars, dictatorships and occupations)? What traces are etched?

Is a war ever really over? Battles reveals a past that has not come to an end, by scrutinizing the traces which remain in the landscape and the memory. A bomb, bunker, tank, soldier - four archetypes of warfare - lead us through places in Europe where conflicts have occurred in the recent past. We discover the transformation of people, things and landscapes following demilitarization. An elderly man in a country inundated with bunkers, grotesque scenes of a prison camp at night, the final days of antiquated explosives, an army of women working on explodable artillery,...—Author

Is a war ever truly over? Battles offers a wondrous view of our discordant world. The film reveals a past that has not passed, by observing the traces that remain in landscape and memory. A bomb, a bunker, a tank, a soldier - four archetypes of warfare lead us chapter by chapter to places in Europe where conflicts have occurred in the recent past. We discover the transformation of people, objects and landscapes after demilitarization. An old man in a land swamped with bunkers, scenes of a bizarre prison camp at night, the last moments of antique explosives, an army of women working on inflatable artillery. How people live with and between the military traces that surround us.