The Deminer film review: A fitting tribute to a real-life hero

When Colonel Fakir, a Kurdish father-of-eight who served in the Iraqi Army, died he left behind a suitcase of video footage showing him disarming hundreds of booby traps.

To American forces he was Crazy Fakir.

Yanks don’t do understatement but this nickname seems woefully inadequate.

The tools of Stark Raving Bonkers Fakir’s trade included a pen knife, pliers and an endless supply of cigarettes.

In one scene we see him calmly puffing away while attacking a minefield with a shovel.

His career wasn’t without incident. Three explosions are caught on camera.

The first, which occurs as he clears up after the Second Gulf War, put him in intensive care.

The second saw him lose a leg. The third comes after he hobbles back to work in 2014 to clear IS booby traps.

As Fakir wasn’t available for interview, this is the moment we have been dreading.

“If I fail, only I will die,” the colonel explains in a rare speech to camera.

“If I succeed I will save many lives.” This may be a fitting tribute to a real-life hero but it’s very hard to watch.