Hacker Cinema
Into the Abyss
2011 · Film · documentary · 107 min
Directed by Werner Herzog
We do not know when and how we will die. Death Row inmates do. Werner Herzog embarks on a dialogue with Death Row inmates, asks questions about life and death and looks deep into these individuals, their stories, their crimes.
4 positivefrom 4 commenters
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4 comments on Hacker News
What I always loved about Werner Herzog documentaries that how he just lets people talk. He just listens. Most people will talk and tell their story if you let them do it and that's exectaly what he does without any fanfares. But he never lets them off the hook either. It's an art on its own to do this, walking on a thin line.
I can highly recommend Into the Abyss, one of his best work https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QmyN3QJky7I
Into the Abyss. Werner Hertzog looks at the process of capital punishment with great sensitivity and his usual deep insight.
The Jinx. While filming a documentary on a rich man suspected of murdering his wife, the crew become involved in the investigation. Perhaps the most jaw-dropping finale of any documentary ever.
I'll have to watch this one. I enjoy Herzog's movies, especially the documentaries he narrates.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cave_of_Forgotten_Dreams
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Encounters_at_the_End_of_the_World
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Into_the_Abyss_%28film%29
For one, I simply like hearing his voice I think. But of course he is a good director as well. There is something different about his approach, and it seems he is more passionate about the topics, he goes all in and becomes rather obsessed about stuff. He also appears compassionate towards his subjects. In his documentaries about the capital punishment, for example, he tried not to take sides or be accusatory, at least not in an obvious in your face type way.
> He shoots my buddy, but I don't know he's dead so I pull him into the car and drive away.
What if his friend wasn't dead, but in fact died in the car as he was driving away from the scene? What if his friend's life could've been saved by treatment at the scene? Moreover, did he have a plan for saving his friends life or was he simply trying to get them both away from the police? Furthermore, being charged with something is not the same as being found guilty of it. The quote begins, "They originally charged me," so I'm guessing some of the charges were dropped? Even then, it comes down to a jury to decide guilt.
I binge-watched a bunch of prison documentaries recently (in particular, Into the Abyss and the series by Louis Theroux are very good). They shed a lot of light on the terrible aspects of the U.S. prison system. Interviews with inmates, though, also make it clear that a lot of these people:
a) Know next to nothing about the legal system outside of their own interpretation of whatever their lawyer/judge has told them. Think of explaining programming to someone who doesn't regularly use technology, and then they go and explain it to someone else.
b) Maintain their innocence even in the face of extremely damning physical and forensic evidence to the contrary. Into the Abyss has a great example of this.
I have fundamental problems with the adversarial justice system, but it's nonetheless important to be critical of what convicts say about their own situations. They're obviously going to be biased - even if they are innocent.