Into The Abyss

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Into The Abyss - 31/3/2012 5:13:21 PM

Empire Admin

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Don�t stare. - 31/3/2012 5:13:21 PM

thebackseatdirector

Posts: 9
Joined: 9/3/2012
From: London, UK

We�ve been taught to see the well-spoken, smiling man on death row as our beat upon, down-trodden hero, and after opening with this tried and tested device, Herzog yanks us back to the crime scene and the hero�s utterly depraved and senseless brutality.

So far, so new, fresh and daring; but then, twenty minutes into what could have been an incredible film, he starts meandering through the wider story, of one of the killer�s incarcerated father, whose regret and life-saving courtroom plea proved the difference between life and death row, and of the town full of white trash with their own drunken bar fight war stories. It all gets a bit muddy and unfocussed.

< Message edited by elab49 -- 31/3/2012 6:15:04 PM >

(in reply to Empire Admin)

Post #: 2

RE: Don�t stare. - 2/4/2012 4:41:27 PM

Qwerty Norris

Posts: 3227
Joined: 26/10/2005
From: Edinburgh

A deeply moving documentary based around the events of a terrible crime, death row and capital punishment itself which again displays Herzog as a master of tackling big universal themes by focusing on a small personal story. Unlike a number of his previous documentaries, his choice to refrain from using his own narration and allow both the interviewees and the images to speak for themselves is a wise one, as it ensures objectivity dominates rather than his own agreeable yet ultimately subjective point of view. Whilst it may also be a work constructed around little more a series of talking heads, the subjects� vivid recollections of specific scenarios are immensely powerful, unmistakably tragic and genuinely upsetting in places � yet as Herzog discovered himself, is as much about a celebration of the fragility of life as it is about the inevitability of death. A film that absolutely lives up to its title, is Herzog�s best since Grizzly Man and also ranks proudly amongst his very best work - magnificent.

5/5

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Qwerty's Top 10 of 2013 (so far)

1. Zero Dark Thirty
2. No
3. A Hijacking
4. In The Fog
5. Good Vibrations
6. McCullin
7. Beyond the Hills
8. The Place Beyond the Pines
9. Wreck-it Ralph
10. Shell

(in reply to thebackseatdirector)

Post #: 3

RE: Don�t stare. - 17/4/2012 6:29:08 AM

spides

Posts: 26
Joined: 16/1/2007
From: Brisbane Australia

I saw this a couple of weeks back and I agree I found it pretty good...I can't recall the kids name but if you Google it he posted a long blog and it's interesting reading, he's picking loads of holes in the case, and to read it you almost think this kid has a case of misjustice, but come the film he barely brings any of this up!!

Also how a court can spare the life of his co accused from the death sentence after his convicted Father pleads his case is anyone's guess

This really does depict red neck country and you have to question if there is something in the tap water in this part of the world.

Overall a good film and well worth seeing, just seems insane all this blood bath over a car!!!!

(in reply to Qwerty Norris)

Post #: 4