Into The Abyss (2011)
Average Rating: 7.7/10
Reviews Counted: 98
Fresh: 89 | Rotten: 9
Another probing, insightful look at an interesting subject, Werner Herzog explores the American prison system with passion and not politics.
Average Rating: 7.4/10
Critic Reviews: 27
Fresh: 23 | Rotten: 4
Another probing, insightful look at an interesting subject, Werner Herzog explores the American prison system with passion and not politics.
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Average Rating: 3.7/5
User Ratings: 6,511
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Movie Info
In his fascinating exploration of a triple homicide case in Conroe, Texas, master filmmaker Werner Herzog probes the human psyche to explore why people kill-and why a state kills. In intimate conversations with those involved, including 28-year-old death row inmate Michael Perry (scheduled to die within eight days of appearing on-screen), Herzog achieves what he describes as "a gaze into the abyss of the human soul." Herzog's inquiries also extend to the families of the victims and perpetrators
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Cast
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Michael Perry
Michael Perry -
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Jason Burkett
Jason Burkett -
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Werner Herzog
Werner Herzog
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All Critics (102) | Top Critics (27) | Fresh (90) | Rotten (9) | DVD (4)
The result is gripping, moving and revelatory, an unabashed if implicit critique of the death penalty.
Top CriticHerzog is pursuing no agenda with Into the Abyss, despite his opposition to extreme judicial measures. He's seeking to answer the question of why people kill, especially in a situation such as this where the reason for the murders was so meaningless.
Into the Abyss does what too few documentaries these days do - it gives ample play to all sides of the argument. Herzog allows us to think things through on our own.
The overriding point of Into the Abyss, what keeps this sad, sorrowful film from becoming depressing and elevates it far above the usual chatter of liberal-conservative debate, is that there can be light on the other end of even the darkest of tunnels.
Herzog's investigation may not work as an anti-death-penalty editorial, but its findings are undeniably profound.
A disquieting, heartbreaking look at American crime and punishment.
Questions if the state has the right to murder.
Herzog is empathetic and non-judgmental, even as his interview subjects try to rationalize their lives, declare their innocence and the like.
This is humane, fascinating documentary filmmaking that is willing to confront insurmountable issues. And as is the case with most true crime material: truth is stranger than fiction.
It is also a devastating portrait of the culture of crime, drug and alcohol abuse, and broken families ...
The steadfastly human Into the Abyss is one of the most haunting movies concerning the unending reverberations in the wake of a small-town atrocity ever made.
Herzog's engrossing examination of a real life triple murder demonstrates that evil doesn't reside only on death row.
It is a film full of despair, but it's also compelling, and Herzog's interview with a death-row groupie towards the end of the film provides a horribly grim punchline.
Werner Herzog's documentary about a triple murder in Texas is a compelling reflection on capital punishment.
The honesty of the flesh, the absurdity of the sacred, the enduring equivalence of meaninglessness that all men share. Into the Abyss: a Tale of Death, a Tale of Life finds its foothold here.
The film trawls the bottomless depth of hopeless criminals as much as it examines the "correctional" system.
Compulsive.
A powerful, poignant film.
[Forces] viewers to face complex questions about society, justice and the sanctity of life.
It's a decent film, though I felt that a clearer, sharper light could have been cast on the defendants themselves.
The extensive use of lurid crime scene videos and subtitles set in a naff typewriter font sit uneasily with the director's opposition to capital punishment.
Audience Reviews for Into The Abyss
Super Reviewer
Incorporating police footage, interviews with family of the victims, law men, clergy men, the perpetrators, and others, this is a tremendously gripping and fascinating piece of work. It can be quite hard to watch at times, but it is so compelling that you can't help but watch. And, despite a few light hearted and quirky moments, this definitely ranks as one of Herzog's most depressing and unsettling films.
It could have been so easy for him to get on a soap box and preach for a while, but Herzog takes the smart route and just tells a story, leaving the tough stuff up to the viewer, which, with a touchy subject like capital punishment, is the best way to go. Highly recommended.
Super Reviewer
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- Werner Herzog: Wow. I never realized the extent of capital punishment till I saw this. Who won in this? It seems to me, there was no win. Just a lot of losses. The state of Texas is no different from taking a life than Micheal Perry. Again... Wow.
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- Michael Perry: I tell people all the time, I'm either going home, or home.
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- Jason Burkett: I want fifty children.
Discussion Forum
| Topic | Last Post | Replies |
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| If you want to feel outraged by this documentary... | 54 days ago | 0 |
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Foreign Titles
- Into the Abyss (DE)
- Into the Abyss (UK)
"A Tale of Death, a Tale of Life"
Into the Abyss is another remarkable documentary from one of films greatest ever, Werner Herzog. It's crazy how he can inject beauty into everything he touches. Now with Into the Abyss, the beauty isn't overpowering, as the story doesn't really call for it, but it's still there. It's in the questions that Herzog asks, it's in the statements members of the deceased families makes; it's there.
This documentary follows a triple murder and the two men charged with the crime. One of which was put to death, the other was sentenced to life in prison. Both men claim they had no involvement in the murder. Herzog isn't trying to make a case that either of the men is guilty or innocent. He's not tying to make a case for the abolition of the death penalty. He states that he doesn't believe human beings should be executed, but he enters the story with no bias at all in his presentation of everything. This is something that very few documentaries made on controversial subjects are able to do. Most of the time, the filmmakers bias will enter into the story. Herzog's does not and that's his genius.
Interviews include a clergy member who goes to see men who are about to be put to death, a sister and daughter of two of the victims, a brother of the other victim, the father of one of the man who was sentenced for life, a man who worked at the place where death row inmates take their final breath, and the wife of the man who was sentenced to life. Each and every interview has extreme power because what is spoken is spoken from the heart. Herzog is spot on with the questions he asks too. He always knows where to take an interview and he does so here with precise perfection.
Into the Abyss is a great documentary and just proves once again why Herzog is a legend. It's sad to watch the families talk about it all, but once again Herzog does find the beauty in it. The film can be hard to watch at times because of the subject material and all of the facts that are brought out, but it is a film that deserves to be watched.