A film I will be showing this Friday at my school is Into the Abyss. A tale of life and a tale of death. Its an American story of crime and punishment bleak and yet humane the film is a 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. The film features intimate conversations with those involved, including 28-year-old death row inmate Michael Perry (scheduled to die within eight days of appearing on-screen). The documentary itself is not concerned with either vindicating any particular point of view or version of events related to the people featured in the film despite the directors own moral opposition against capital punishment. Instead probes the contradictions of the human heart, in which nobility and savagery are so entwined as to be almost indistinguishable. A book to read in combination with the film with the subject of crime punishment and the death penalty is - In cold Blood by Truman Capote. In Cold Blood by Truman Capote On November 15, 1959, in the small town of Holcomb, Kansas, four members of the Clutter family were savagely murdered by blasts from a shotgun held a few inches from their faces. There was no apparent motive for the crime, and there were almost no clues.As Truman Capote reconstructs the murder and the investigation that led to the capture, trial, and execution of the killers, he generates both mesmerizing suspense and astonishing empathy. In Cold Blood is a work that transcends its moment, yielding poignant insights into the nature of American violence. Both this book and the documentary are worth a look.
Posted on: Mon, 24 Mar 2014 14:38:10 +0000
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