REVIEWED
"And in those days shall men seek death, and shall not find it. And shall desire to die, and death shall flee from them"
Werner Herzog chillingly quoting from Revelation 9:6
Viewed as part of my Beware the Docs of March Marathon 1. Werner Herzogs helicopter tracking shot into hell makes for a truly remarkable other world documentary. It feels at first like we're viewing footage of Mars or some other planet. Shockingly its our own world, and the post war devastation of the Kuwaitian oil fields in flames.
I've watched so many bizarre, insightful and even humorous docus during my themed month of March, but 'Lessons of Darkness' aka 'Lektionen in Finsternis' is the only one that had those little hairs on the back of my neck standing. Herzog eschews conventional documentary interviews and shows the landscape to the strains of classical music, which is pretty much only broken by his own unique typically sardonic, even puzzling at times brand of narration. Needless to say I love the guy and the bulk of his work. If mankind could place one film in a time capsule for any future race or species, I'd wish it to be an Herzog piece. Just because its bound to be artistically pleasing, yet have enough wtf about it to puzzle any viewer.
[PRFR: Personal Reasons For Remembering]
The flames, scorched earth & skies of smoke... plus Herzog flying around as if he were an alien viewer to our bleak world.
Originally taken from Letterboxd
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