Into the abyss - A tale of death, a tale of life
There is always something unique about Werzog’s documentary.
The way he is enquiring the issues which he studies on are at best witty and fascinating
while at the same time, could be quite pointless and head scratching. His latest, into the abyss, follows the
similar pattern. On the surface, it was a series of interviews with different
people (his “protagonist”) concerning a murder happened in Texas, where one of
the teenage murderers (whom he still retain his own innocence until the end) was
about to get executed for it.
While this may be easily regarded a study of capital
punishment and the morality of it (certainly Werzog’s opposition view of it), yet
the interviews, detailed footages of crime, revisit of crime scene, had revealed
a lot more. This is not a one-side investigation of the subject matter. While Werzog
tried to convey the fact that life is cherished by the one who is about to lose
it, and also no one should have the right to take another’s live through execution,
he also aware the feeling of revenge from victims of the crime. His minimal
involvement (not appear on screen, only narration can be heard) was unusual by
his standard but effective in bringing out different aspects from each of his
interviewees, allowing them to present
their internal feeling onto the case, as well as a sober reflection on their
own lives. We see the father who has remorse about his
own failure for bringing up his son in a responsible way. There is a disturbing
account of the reverend who have to witness 120 odd executions a year which
become so unbearable that he had to stop. Werzog also interviewed one of the victim’s daughter;
who basically lost everyone in her family within a very short period of time.
he again applies his unique way of questioning his “character” to bring out
their honest, truthful, if not instinctive feeling toward themselves through
simple yet personal questions.
Here, at least in this film, Werzog took the role as an
observer, and surely enough, he knows what and where to observe and in doing
so, cleverly keeping the audience engaged at the same time.
more info
