“He
who fights with monsters should look to it that he himself does not
become a monster. And when you gaze long into an abyss the abyss also
gazes into you. “
Mr. Herzog believes that the common denominator of the universe is
chaos,hostility and murder. Mr Herzog also believes that capital
punishment is wrong. In Into the Abyss, Mr. Herzog seems to be
out to make a case for his second belief. Personally, I think Mr
Herzog is more of an explorer for whom making a case for anything is
least of the worries.
Mr Herzog's documentaries are more of narratives. They don't have a linear
pattern and they do not seem to be moving towards a finale. They are essentially a set of footage loosely connected to a theme but not
strictly adhering to it. The reason for it is that most of his
documentaries are driven by interviews. I am not sure, if he looks at
them as characters, but the people he questions, are often imperfect
narrators. Most of them do not ever offer an unbiased third person
opinion on the topic being discussed and many of them are not even
capable of doing that since they are too close to the theme being
discussed. So they drift off and Mr Herzog often lets them drift off.
That's what makes these documentaries so fascinating.
Into the Abyss is one such documentary which talks about a mass murder in
Conroe, Texas where three people were killed for a Chevy Camarro. Mr
Herzog starts by talking to a prison chaplain who presides over executions.
Mr. Herzog's line of questioning often starts with small talk which
makes people comfortable. He usually asks them to explain about their
work and the chaplain in this case explains his job on the execution
day and also about what happens at the end of an execution. He then
asks if he believes that capital punishment is god's way and the
chaplain does not have an answer to that. He says that he just feels
that these people who die have made bad decisions. He then talks
about his golfing experience where he talks about beauty of life.
Then the chaplain breaks down crying. Mr Herzog's camera lingers over
the priest and then moves on.
The
Documentary starts with the chronology of the crime. It shows the
live police footage of the murders with all its gore. Mr. Herzog asks
the police chief who presided over the investigation to explain the
crime and the line of questioning is mostly objective. He then moves
on to the two convicts, Michael Perry and Jason Burkett. Michael is
on a death row and is going to be executed after 8 days. The Man is
bitter and explains to Herzog that he has been wrongly convicted. Mr
Herzog asks him how he feels and the man says that you should get out
of state of Texas lest they catch you and put you in the jail too.
Mr
Herzog, then moves on to the kin of the murdered and understands the
sense of loss that they feel. He then talks to people close to the
convicts and tries to understand the background of the two
convicts. He talks to the other convict, Jason Burkett who has been sentenced for life. He talks to the father of this convict who is himself
incarcerated for 8 counts of felony. The father explains that it is
his fault that the crimes happened and feels that if he had been
there for his children they would not have turned out this way.
Eventually Mr. Herzog moves to a retired executioner who explains the
process of execution and explains why he retired. To our surprise, we
also find the other convict Jason Burkett is married. He questions
the wife who explains about their relationship.
In
this series of interviews Mr Herzog seems to be establishing a case
against Capital punishment. But, During this whole process, his line
of questioning is also such that these people speak out what they
feel. His attitude seems to be more to collect perspectives rather
than making a black and white case. So, people break down when they
speak and when they stop themselves from saying something, Mr Herzog
nudges them to express it.
In
The middle of the documentary, Mr Herzog captures the surroundings
where his camera lingers over empty spaces to capture the loneliness
of the place. He shows abandoned gas stations and a board in front of
a church which says Sinners Welcome. Although, this might seem like a
good way to establish authenticity of proceedings, I feel Mr Herzog
does not feel burdened with the case he is trying to make.
By
Watching this documentary, I could not decide if I am for or against
Capital punishment. I have not thought about the topic. This
documentary does not help. It just presents to us people who were
part of this harrowing experience and their thoughts.
P.S. In
Mr. Herzog's interviews you would notice the camera lingering on his
subjects even after they have stopped speaking. This captures them at
their rawest moment where they do not have anything to say but the
camera is still focusing on them. To Me, This is as lifelike as cinema can get.
