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Into the Abyss (film)

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Into the Abyss
Directed byWerner Herzog
Written byWerner Herzog
Produced byDave Harding
Amy Briamonte
Henry Schleiff
Sara Kozak
Andre Singer
Lucki Stipetic (executives)
Erik Nelson[1]
StarringWerner Herzog
Michael Perry
Jason Burkett
Narrated byWerner Herzog
CinematographyPeter Zeitlinger
Edited byJoe Bini[1]
Music byMark Degli Antoni[1]
Production
companies
Investigation Discovery
Creative Differences
Werner Herzog Filmproduktion
Spring Films
More4
Revolver Entertainment
Distributed byIFC Films
Sundance Selects
Release dates
  • September 8, 2011 (2011-09-08) (TIFF)
  • November 11, 2011 (2011-11-11) (United States)
Running time
105 minutes[2]
CountriesUnited States
United Kingdom
Germany
LanguageEnglish

Into the Abyss, subtitled A Tale of Death, a Tale of Life, is a documentary film written and directed by Werner Herzog about two men convicted of a triple homicide which occurred in Conroe, Texas. Michael Perry received a death sentence for the crime.

The film was first shown on September 3, 2011, at the Telluride Film Festival,[3] and had its official world premiere on September 8, 2011, at the 2011 Toronto International Film Festival.[4] After strong festival showings and a surge of interest in the issue of capital punishment in the United States, Herzog requested that the film be rushed into general theatrical release, which occurred on November 11, 2011.[5]

Synopsis

The film profiles Michael Perry, a man on death row convicted of murdering Sandra Stotler, a fifty-year-old nurse. He also confessed to two other murders which occurred in Conroe, Texas. Perry was convicted of the October 2001 murder eight years before filming; the crimes apparently committed in order to steal a car for a joyride. Perry denies that he was responsible for the killings.

Perry's final interviews for the film were recorded only eight days before his execution[1] on July 1, 2010.[2] The film also includes interviews with victims' families and law enforcement officers.[6]

The film does not focus on Perry's guilt or innocence and features a minimal amount of narration, with Herzog never appearing onscreen, unlike in many of his films.[7][8]

Production

Herzog had long considered making a film about prison inmates. In fact, Herzog at age 17 had intended to make his first film about the maximum security Straubing prison in Bavaria. This concept was never realized, but the idea remained dormant until Into the Abyss decades later.[3][9]

The film is financed by American cable TV channel Investigation Discovery, who gave Herzog financing and creative freedom.[10]

The film went through several working titles during its production. For a time it was called simply "Death Row", and this was later elaborated to "Gazing Into The Abyss: A Tale of Death, a Tale Of Life".[7] The television broadcast of the film and the related series was briefly referred to as "Werner Herzog’s Final Confessions",[10] but eventually aired with the title On Death Row.

Certain voices in the production wanted the film's title to be "The Red Camaro", but Herzog disliked the hint of product placement in the title, and called it "not evocative at all".[11] By August 2011, when its premiere at TIFF was announced, the title was changed to "Into the Abyss". Herzog has often commented that "Into the Abyss" could have worked well as the title of many of his films.[11]

Herzog originally planned and shot profiles of five[4] death row inmates in Texas and Florida,[12] including Michael Perry. After production began, Herzog decided to focus on Perry's case.[1] His other interviews were compiled into a series of four 50 minute films which aired as the television miniseries On Death Row.

The film was in production during promotion for Herzog's previous film Cave of Forgotten Dreams. Herzog missed a special screening of Cave at the Berlinale festival because an opportunity to film one of his subjects arose suddenly.[12]

Release and distribution

The film's premiere was on September 2011 at the 2011 Toronto International Film Festival.[4] The film was often portrayed as being one among several "hot-button political documentaries" at the festival.[13] Herzog, however, has stated that he has no political intentions with the film. Herzog states at the film's outset that he opposes capital punishment,[3] but he has said that his "focus is elsewhere" in the film.[12] In an interview with the Los Angeles Times, he said, "This is not an issue film; it's not an activist film against capital punishment," and, "Yes, it has an issue, but it's not the main purpose of the film."[14]

Before the film's festival premiere, North American theatrical distribution rights were bought by Sundance Selects.[15] In October 2011, Sundance Selects announced that the film would be rushed to a theatrical release, opening in select cities on November 11, 2011. In recent months there had been controversies over American capital punishment in the case of Troy Davis and the cheers for Rick Perry's execution record in a Republican primary debate. The early release was demanded by Herzog himself, who wanted his film to contribute to this new national discussion of the death penalty. Producer Erik Nelson said, "Everyone in the country is focused on the death penalty debate again thanks to Rick Perry and the bloodthirsty yahoos at the Republican debate, and I think Werner wants the film to be part of that discussion because timing is everything."[5]

After a theatrical release, the film was shown on Investigation Discovery, which provided the film's financing.[10] It is currently available for on-demand video streaming on Netflix.[16]

Reception

The film has received positive reviews. As of February 2015, On Rotten Tomatoes it has a 92% "certified fresh" 106 review rating.[17] Similarly, Metacritic reports a score of 74 out of 100 based on 30 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews."[18]

The film appeared as #3 on Roger Ebert's list of the 20 best documentaries of 2011.[19]

Awards

References

  1. ^ a b c d e "Into the Abyss: Werner Herzog". Toronto International Film Festival. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 January 2013.
  2. ^ a b "Werner Herzog Film: Into the Abyss". Wernerherzog.com. 2010-07-01. Retrieved 2012-08-02.
  3. ^ a b c Fernandez, Jay A. (September 3, 2011). "Telluride 2011: 'Into the Abyss' vs. 'Pina' in a Documentary Doubleheader". The Hollywood Reporter.
  4. ^ a b c "Watch: 3 Powerful Clips & New Photos From Werner Herzog's Death Row Documentary Into The Abyss". Blogs.indiewire.com. August 5, 2011. Retrieved August 14, 2011.
  5. ^ a b Hammond, Pete (2011-10-07). "OSCARS: Werner Herzog's Controversial Toronto/Telluride Death Penalty Doc Being Rushed Into Release In November". Deadline.com. Retrieved 2012-08-02.
  6. ^ Taylor, Kate (August 3, 2011). "A closer look at 3 TIFF docs to get excited about". Toronto: The Globe and Mail. Retrieved August 15, 2011.
  7. ^ a b "Werner Herzog's Prison Doc Now Titled Gazing Into The Abyss: A Tale of Death, A Tale Of Life". Blogs.indiewire.com. June 20, 2011. Retrieved August 14, 2011.
  8. ^ Debruge, Peter (September 3, 2011). "Into the Abyss: A Tale of Death, a Tale of Life". Variety.
  9. ^ "Paris Review – The Spring Issue: Werner Herzog and Jan Simek on Caves, John Jeremiah Sullivan". Theparisreview.org. May 2, 2011. Retrieved August 15, 2011.
  10. ^ a b c Adam Benzine (April 15, 2011). "ID holds "Final Confessions" with Werner Herzog". Realscreen. Retrieved August 15, 2011.
  11. ^ a b "Into the Abyss: A conversation with filmmaker Werner Herzog". Flickering Myth. Retrieved 2012-08-02.
  12. ^ a b c Macnab, Geoffrey (February 15, 2011). "Werner Herzog exits Cave, goes to Death Row". Screendaily.com. Retrieved August 14, 2011.
  13. ^ "You Betcha! What Hot Political Docs Will Cause a Stir in Toronto?". Blogs.indiewire.com. August 3, 2011. Retrieved August 14, 2011.
  14. ^ "24 Frames". Los Angeles Times. September 10, 2011.
  15. ^ [1][dead link‍]
  16. ^ Into the Abyss Netflix.com
  17. ^ "Rotten Tomatoes, Tomatometer". 2015-02-02. Retrieved 2015-02-02.
  18. ^ "Into the Abyss Reviews, Ratings, Credits, and More". Metacritic. 2015-02-02. Retrieved 2015-02-02.
  19. ^ "The 20 best documentaries of 2011". Roger Ebert's Journal. 2011-12-25. Retrieved 2015-02-02.
  20. ^ Adam Benzine (2011-10-26). "Herzog takes top doc honors at London Film Fest". Realscreen. Retrieved 2012-08-02.
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