Into the Abyss

[anart]

Watched this documentary last night and it was quite good. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Into_the_Abyss_%28film%29

It's basically a study on the death penalty in Texas, on a specific murder and the people surrounding that murder and the murderers - family, friends and even the man in charge of the capital punishment process at the prison (a surprising bit of humanity there). There is some serious pathology on display as well as one character that really presents as a psychopath. It's worth a watch!

 

[Redrock12]

Thanks Anart. I just ordered it through the local public library.

 

[Deleted member 8431]

Thank you anart.

I'll have the movie during the day.

 

[Redrock12]

Watched this documentary last night and it was quite good. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Into_the_Abyss_%28film%29

It's basically a study on the death penalty in Texas, on a specific murder and the people surrounding that murder and the murderers - family, friends and even the man in charge of the capital punishment process at the prison (a surprising bit of humanity there). There is some serious pathology on display as well as one character that really presents as a psychopath. It's worth a watch.

Agreed. Imo, this is a must-see.

 

[Deleted member 8431]

Finally watched it.

All I can say is that it was really worth it. Made me live a lot of emotions - especially sadness but also irritation and disgust.

I'm not yet very good at pointing out pathologies and such but I'm quite positive one of the characters is indeed a serious psychopath. I also see what appears to be some serious emotional issues in certain characters while some others seem to have been able to realise things and have shown some pretty authentic empathy, or so it seems.

Can we discuss the psychology of the characters? I mean, I just don't want to spoil it for others but that would be great.

Perhaps putting a warning about spoiler(s) on the reply?

Cheers!

 

[Beau]

Can we discuss the psychology of the characters? I mean, I just don't want to spoil it for others but that would be great.

Perhaps putting a warning about spoiler(s) on the reply?

Marking your discussion with a spoiler alert should work just fine.

 

[Deleted member 8431]

Can we discuss the psychology of the characters? I mean, I just don't want to spoil it for others but that would be great.

Perhaps putting a warning about spoiler(s) on the reply?

Marking your discussion with a spoiler alert should work just fine.

Good!

Shall do when I have a bit more free time.

Thanks.

 

[SethianSeth]

Just watched this film last night. It seems to me that Herzog is one of the best documentations working in the medium of film, and this is one of his finest. As the film settles in my mind, I am amazed at the level of patience and compassion necessary for him to present all of these varied points of view without delving into judgement. This is not to say that he doesn't have a clear opinion regarding the death penalty - he states it very early on in the film. The aspect that I appreciate the most about his documentary work is how he makes use of the camera time directly before and after his subjects assume they are "on stage". This is where the real humanity and pathology shine through. I'll never forget the moment in one of his earlier documentaries called The White Diamond, where he allows the subject to speak openly his obviously prepared "impression management" speech about who he is and what he does, then blindsides him with a simple question completely outside the boundary of his narrative. The reaction and response is a captured moment of the carefully constructed personality falling - a broken and deeply guarded man stripped bare, if only for a moment. Really stunning stuff.