For the
sake of not having to write the same intro a million
different ways throughout the rest of time, just know that
this column avoids the overly long and sometimes dull
process of full film reviews and instead opts to break
things down based on what I thought going in, what happened
while I was there and what I learned at the end of it all.
Thanks for reading!
The
Breakdown - Into The Abyss
The Impression:
Werner Herzog is a strange and brilliant man and if he wants
to dip his Germanic nose in to the affairs of tiny town in
Texas whilst slapping the death penalty around in the
process I am more than game.
The Reality:
Werner Herzog loves the thea-tah. Herzog’s films are near
melodramatic with their divided acts and Herzog’s thickly
accented voice somehow holding everything together. I feel
as if even in his documentaries Herzog sees his subjects as
part of a universal narrative, pawns in a staged play that
he moves across the board. Into The Abyss is Herzog’s
commentary on not only the death penalty but the evils that
may or may not exist in the world. Following the final days
of two convicts sentenced to death because of their
involvement in a triple homicide ten years earlier, Herzog
paints a grim picture of both the worlds that birthed them,
and the worlds they’re leaving. The film never tries to
harshly identify the causes of the murders or why two men
would act so rashly, but instead highlights the vagueness of
such actions. The film begins with Herzog, his voice a
constant presence in the film, carving the hard answers from
a death house preacher about God’s role in capitol
punishment. But the preacher is unable to identify a cause
only to stare blankly in to the camera, a tear rolling down
his eye, baffled by the terrible things wrought upon this
world.
The Lesson:
We live in a scary, unpredictable world. Don’t own red
Camaros in Texas.
- Noah Sanders
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