In this 2011 documentary, German filmmaker Werner Herzog (Grizzly Man, Cave of Forgotten Dreams) gets up close and personal with the perpetrators and victims of a disturbing triple homicide that took place because of a bungled car theft. The phrase ‘clinically emotional’ might seem like an oxymoron, but when it comes to describing this film it seems to sit just right.
The film tells the story of Michael Perry and Jason Burkett, two young men who killed three people in an attempt to steal a car. Through interviews with the victims, the two men, their families and the men who work on death row, Herzog paints a picture of a system that justifies condemning humans to death by painting them as monsters, when in fact their crimes are part of a much larger and infinitely more complicated whole.
Herzog’s film is well organised and clean, delving with surgical precision into the lives of each person affected by the crime, including its perpetrators, one of whom was executed eight days after his on-camera interview.
An element of the film that viewers may not like is Herzog’s need to insert himself into the conversation. He sits off camera in interviews, or as the narrator in scenic shots, with his German accent slightly off-putting at first; a hiccup in the overall flow of the film. However, as the documentary progresses, this technique works increasingly well. Herzog – whose face is never shown – places himself in the position of a visitor to America and one who respectfully disagrees with its policy on capital punishment.
The DVD also includes
Death Row, a four part documentary series created by Herzog. Each 60 minute episode looks at a different inmate sentenced to death, and features a truncated version of the style shown in Into the Abyss. This is a more than worthwhile addition to the DVD, and is even more valuable than the film itself. Just don’t watch them all at once, because you’ll feel slightly haunted by Herzog’s voice and the ghastly crimes that these people have admitted to committing.
One thing especially striking about
Into the Abyss is the articulateness of the interviewees. Each gives incredible insight into the experience of living or working on death row, and that alone makes the film worth watching.
Rating: 4 stars out of 5
Into the Abyss: A Tale of Death, a Tale of Life
Directed by Werner Herzog
Germany, 2011, 345 mins
Madman Entertainment
Rated M
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