Hacker Cinema
Mr. Death: The Rise and Fall of Fred A. Leuchter, Jr.
1999 · Film · documentary · 91 min
Directed by Errol Morris
Documentary filmmaker Errol Morris investigates the case of a man who became an authority on capital punishment, but was discredited when he got involved on the wrong side of a court case. Leuchter, a meek man whose appearance belies his grim expertise, develops what he says is a more effective electric chair. Before long, he's in demand from officials who want his opinions on other execution methods. But when called to aid the case of an accused Holocaust denier, Leuchter's problems begin.
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4 comments on Hacker News
Setting aside the morality of the death penalty, the methods used by prisons have been grotesquely mismanaged. I’m not surprised state-sanctioned homicide, as it was characterized in the article, has left an indelible mark on anyone willing to take on such a ghastly job. For the reason that nobody wants to do this job, the methods are subjected to further inefficiencies that turn executions into torture.
The documentary, Mr. Death, by Errol Morris (who also directed Fog of War) comes to mind. Well worth a watch for anyone who doesn’t mind the gruesome topic, which I’m guessing is anyone reading this comment. It chronicles the rise of a private citizen and jailhouse worker who decided he could improve the electric chair —- despite having no background at all. Eventually he was advising on all sorts of execution methods.
There's something special about documentaries -- you can convince the audience of practically anything if you're a good enough director.
My favorite case is the Errol Morris documentary Mr. Death. It follows the story of a man who went from an electric chair technician to a holocaust denier. Morris attempted to direct the movie from the subject's perspective so that the audience could understand how you could slowly become a holocaust denier.
When he showed the movie to a Harvard film class, half the class believed that Morris himself was a holocaust denier, and the other half of the class believed the subject's (holocaust denying) side of the story, specifically that the Auschwitz gas chambers never actually had poison gas in them.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mr._Death:_The_Rise_and_Fall_of_Fred_A._Leuchter,_Jr.#Background
This man's documentaries are amazing. It is a shame that one of the techniques he pioneered--the reenactments in 'Thin Blue Line' have become part of the ruin of documentaries. When 'Thin Blue Line' showed reenactments, it was to reinforce uncertainty, so you could easily see the conflicts in the statements of different witnesses. When the Discovery Channel uses reenactments, it is a cheap trick to dramatize the past, and implies certainty where none exists.
Many of Morris' files are about belief, knowledge and certainty. Take 'Mr. Death' for example. It's about a guy--not necessarily a bad guy--that thought the Holocaust was implausible, and tried to prove it. The problem was he didn't know as much as he thought he knew, and his tests were fatally flawed. The had the hubris I've often seen in engineers that science conveys certainty.
If you want to see another side of Morris, his commercials for Miller High Life:
http://errolmorris.com/commercials/miller/miller_ducttape.html
This is turning out to be a really awesome list; here are a few others I feel should be mentioned:
- Dear Zachery: one of my all time favorite documentaries. Amazingly tragic, depressing, and infuriating, but extremely well made. (http://movies.netflix.com/WiMovie/Dear_Zachary_A_Letter_to_a_Son_About_His_Father/70095159?trkid=2361637)
- The Great Happiness Space: an interesting look into the lives of japanese male 'escorts'; the unfolding of the moral dilemmas they face in doing their job is quite fascinating. (http://movies.netflix.com/WiMovie/The_Great_Happiness_Space/70067160?trkid=2361637)
- Heavy Metal In Baghdad: If you think running a startup is hard, multiply that difficulty a couple times just to get an idea of what these guys had to go through just to be able to play the music they enjoy. Don't have to be a metalhead to enjoy this one, but it helps \m/ (http://www.vbs.tv/watch/acrassicauda--2/heavy-metal-in-baghdad-feature), Also, be sure to checkout their follow-up, 'Heavy Metal in Istanbul' (http://www.vbs.tv/watch/acrassicauda--2/dvd-extra-heavy-metal-in-istanbul)
- Metal A Headbanger's Journey: Another one of my favorites, definitely a must watch if you're at all into metal; it basically traces the roots of metal, and explores all the different sub-genres and cultures it has spawned (http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/metal-headbangers-journey/)
- Standing In The Shadows Of Motown: Great doc about the greatest band no one has heard of; "This unheralded group of musicians had played on more number ones hits than the Beach Boys, the Rolling Stones, Elvis and the Beatles combined - which makes them the greatest hit machine in the history of popular music. They called themselves the Funk Brothers." (http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=7&ved=0CFkQtwIwBg&url=http%3A%2F%2Fvideo.google.com%2Fvideoplay%3Fdocid%3D-457607153062514364&ei=TNUHTtmkGYaCsQO1h53BDQ&usg=AFQjCNGz6jUK-Cl29OKlFuOwpVsxmwU85w)
- This Film Is Not Yet Rated: about the craziness that happens behind the film rating process (http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=3&ved=0CEQQFjAC&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.netflix.com%2FMovie%2FThis-Film-Is-Not-Yet-Rated%2F70043954&ei=A9YHTqKyGY3msQOh_q3DDQ&usg=AFQjCNHrMy-duaWgtAfbu-0LQqqaoOkaMA)
- E=mc2 - Einstein and the World's Most Famous Equation: A look into the history behind all the scientific descoveries that led to Einstein's famous equation (http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=4144497206440839046#)
- Maxed out: Great look into the american credit card situation (http://movies.netflix.com/WiMovie/Maxed-Out/70058892?trkid=438403)
- Who the #$&% Is Jackson Pollock?: A really cool, unique ride through the business of art (http://movies.netflix.com/WiMovie/Who-the-Is-Jackson-Pollock/70064699?trkid=438403)
- Mr. Death - The Rise and Fall of Fred A Leuchter Jr.: About the fascinating life of an expert executioner (http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=654178281151939378#)
- American Drug War: a look into what the war against drugs has done to the U.S. (http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/american-drug-war/)
- Between The Folds: A surprisingly interesting oragami documentary (http://movies.netflix.com/WiMovie/Between-the-Folds/70120179?trkid=438403)
I'm sure I know of plenty more great ones, but these are all that came to mind at the moment...