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Sunday, November 13, 2011

MOVIE REVIEW
Into The Abyss: A Tale Of Death, A Tale Of Life
State Of Death: Thou Shalt Not Kill, Except When One Does

Michael Perry, 13 days before his July 1, 2010 execution in "Into The Abyss", Werner Herzog's documentary.  IFC Films
  
by Omar P.L. Moore/PopcornReel.com        Follow popcornreel on Twitter FOLLOW                                           
Sunday, November 13, 2011
The death penalty is a claw that sticks deep in the heart of Werner Herzog.  He has steadfastly refused to become a U.S. citizen because of it.  In his superb documentary "Into The Abyss: A Tale Of Death, A Tale Of Life", the best documentary and one of the very best films of 2011, he lets his subjects speak freely, honestly and without judgments.  There's great poetry and irony that rings throughout this amazing and profound film.

"Abyss" examines the state of Texas and its death penalty but takes us in depth sans "America's Most Wanted"-type sensationalism to a heinous, grisly murder of a woman in her home in October 2001 by then-teenagers Michael Perry and Jason Burkett.  Both are behind bars.  Perry is on death row in Livingston, Texas, days away from execution.  Burkett is serving a life sentence.  One seems to have an almost angelic peace of mind, gained maturity with a higher understanding.  The other is angry, barely repentant.  One has lost a father.  The other has one behind bars.

Perry and Burkett are the principals on screen and of Perry, the director in an instance marking the film's pendulum of complexity and intertwined dilemma, says early on that "just because I'm talking to you it doesn't mean that I like you."  Mr. Herzog may dislike the death penalty even more.

No film looks at the intersection of life, death and family with as much depth, compassion and equanimity as "Into The Abyss" does.  The director probes the issues and lives forever tainted by crimes of the state and crimes of its citizenry with the deepest sincerity and contemplation.  Mr. Herzog's deliberation and focus on peripheral yet integral players, one of whom looks a dead ringer for Juliette Binoche, is astounding.  There's a purity and grace about "Into The Abyss" and a calm disposition about such an intensely divisive subject as the death penalty that resonates with clear-eyed, matter-of-fact dissection. 

We are confronted by the value of human life and the demarcation of time, something the German filmmaker has repeatedly visited in his work.  Time.  Space.  Circumstance.  There's a clarity about the very complexity of the issues explored that makes "Into The Abyss" a noble, saintly film without it being obviously so.  There's no hagiographic sheen or early signals of coming manipulations.  Pure moments arrive by accident -- wholly unexpectedly.  The imperfect speech, affectations and behaviors of some of the interview subjects lends a roughness and palpable edge that takes them from caricature to character.

Mr. Herzog, who already has the stunning "Cave Of Forgotten Dreams" this year, humanizes those on both sides of the death penalty divide, as well as all of the varied perpetrators of death.  A woman scarred by multiple deaths in her family is looked at in the most complex, heartbreaking and human way possible, and her comment "I'm glad I went to the execution", spells out the fragile, tenuous line between bloodlust anger and villainous wrath where death is concerned.  There are nuggets of humor that keep "Into The Abyss" from falling into grim requiem, but it's that very humor that keeps this enthralling documentary alert and straight-forward.

Two phenomenal monologues bookend this deeply moving and soul-searching masterpiece.  A chaplain says he wishes he could do something to stop the procedure of execution he presides over.  In the same breath he talks about squirrels and how precious their lives are.  A captain of the execution unit in Livingston has an epiphany, and it's his speech that is one of the most enduring moments and the core summation of "Into The Abyss".  We feel the weight of his realization.  We empathize with him, and we know he's been through hell to get to where he is.

 "Into The Abyss" is rated PG-13 by the Motion Picture Association Of America for mature thematic material and some disturbing images.  The film's running time is one hour and 46 minutes.
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