Review of Into the Abyss (2011) by Blerim N — 25 Oct 2012

Werner Herzog and a film about a death row inmate even sounds right.

Into the Abyss is an insightful, sometimes heartbreaking, often questionable and suprisingly funny movie.

Sober and professionally, Werner Herzog narrates and interviews the story of death row inmate Michael Perry who killed three people and his accomplice Jason Burkett who serves a life sentence. He does that with his distinctive, almost cynical voice that paradoxically gives this quite objective and balanced documentary an extraordinary note that sets it apart from your everyday doc.

We hear the stories of the felons and the families of the victims as well as some witnesses and they all tell us something different - Herzog never questions their statements and leaves any commentation to the viewer himself. This was a very smart move and is a great part of the film's power.

It's talkative, yet mediative. Bleak and sad yet hilariously funny in some scenes. Highly philosophical, although the answer to the question whether the state should be allowed to kill a human being is an easy one (or maybe not, as Lisa Stotler-Balloun's reaction at the end might indicate).

I can't say many films in recent time spellbound me as much as Herzog's documentary here, and I'm so so glad I was finally able to watch it (especially on the big screen) after over a year of waiting.

In a nutshell, Into the Abyss is probably one of the best film documentaries I've ever seen (not that I've seen many...).