Yes, here is the other reason why my pennies have been flying away from me. After I saw this all I could formulate was “wow” yes, just wow. It’s an incredibly affecting film, especially for someone like me who has been anti-Capital Punishment for as long as I remember and have been involved with some campaigns on the matter (most recently letter-writing c/o Amnesty International for Troy Davis for the last few months, a case sadly lost).
In typical Herzog style he takes the subject matter head-on, in such a way that the audience is forced to think “what would I *actually* feel in this situation?” (Be it the murderer, the victim and even the executioner). Herzog treats everyone he interviews with the utmost respect (including a man, late 30s?, who had only just learned to read - “it must be hard, you need to be smarter than everyone else in order to keep up with things.”) The context is hugely important here - the Texan countryside, where guns and felonies seem to be abundant (a neighbouring town is called ‘Cut and Shoot’!) It’s a tragic tale really, showing people who ended up being swallowed by their context, with no hope.
Being a Herzog though there are of course certain comedy points! I won’t reveal them explicitly (and I’m not revealing the case/narrative because I think everyone should make their own judgments) but they include: “tell me about this encounter with a squirrel?” and “you got active… some form of contraband?”
This is the most important film of the year.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/video/2011/sep/09/werner-herzog-into-the-abyss
