Into the Abyss

aka: Death Row Portraits
Germany 2011, 105 + 220 minutes
Dir. Werner Herzog
Rating: [M] Offensive language
Genres: Documentary

Aroview: Werner Herzog sits down with the perpetrators of a triple homicide in this darkly lucid investigation into the paradoxes of human nature.

Probing his subjects with equal parts compassion and skepticism, Herzog gets beneath the skin of the killers and their supporters while extending the dialogue to the victims' families and the authorities involved in the senseless murders. A sometimes humorous, always arresting portrait of crime and punishment in contemporary America.

Also includes four hour-long 'Death Row Portraits' of the following convicted murderers: James Barnes, Linda Carty, Joseph Garcia & George Rivas, Hank Skinner.

NZ International Film Festival 2012