Review of Lake of Fire (2006) by Josh M — 01 Nov 2007

Considering how deliberately Tony Kaye makes his presence felt during the clunky opening moments of his abortion doc Lake of Fireâ??via a pseudo-subliminal flash-cut to critique an abstinence-promoting interviewee, and a credit sequence full of praying hand-shaped candles and soaring stringsâ??it's astonishing to find the remainder so lucid, even-keeled, and free from authorial hysterics.

Made over a 15-year span from 1990 to 2005, Kaye's two-and-a-half-hour documentary strives not for comprehensiveness but for expansiveness, its intent being to broaden the fiercely polarizing conversation about abortion by addressing its myriad components head-on.

Or more specifically, what the firebrand American History X filmmaker tries to do is shift the debate away from absolutes, and toward a realistic understanding that, whether it be on a personal or political level, abortion isâ??as reflected by his stark, beautiful shades-of-gray cinematographyâ??a multifaceted issue resolvable only through sober, rational discourse.