Lake of Fire (2006)Directed by Tony Kaye
A homage to the argument surrounding abortion that propels its audience through the extremities of pro-life and pro-choice campaigns across America.
Whatever a filmmaker's intention when setting to work on a project on the abortion issue, if both sides of the argument are covered properly, this is one of the few moral debates that should always lead to an ambiguous conclusion. However, baring in mind the graphic nature of the film, the phenomenal footage that has been acquired and the stories that are told, it is difficult to believe that Kaye's stance on the issue was neutral from the beginning... and that is what makes the film such a dynamic and well structured documentary.
Kaye portrays his subject as though it were something extremely close to him; as though it is an internal debate he has been having with himself for sometime. Through interviewing a blend of evangelical pro-life extremists, reputable academics and women who have had abortions, Kaye relays the pro-life/pro-choice arguments back and forth without immediate emphasis on either side.
I found the only neutral rest-bite to come through the placid, gracious and brilliantly crafted commentaries from Noam Chomsky, who relates to the both sides of the argument using logical deduction and sympathy. His quiet words soak up the debate as though they were a magical centerpiece, and even though they only last for a few moments, they make sense of the entire issue and spread gentle ripples throughout the remainder of the film.
Lake of Fire is an intense documentary. It is an attempt to make sense of one of the most difficult moral debates in scientific history and it achieves this by amplifying the drama, the dialectics and the distortions that need to be unraveled in order to formulate a justified opinion on either end of the spectrum.
Whatever a filmmaker's intention when setting to work on a project on the abortion issue, if both sides of the argument are covered properly, this is one of the few moral debates that should always lead to an ambiguous conclusion. However, baring in mind the graphic nature of the film, the phenomenal footage that has been acquired and the stories that are told, it is difficult to believe that Kaye's stance on the issue was neutral from the beginning... and that is what makes the film such a dynamic and well structured documentary.
Kaye portrays his subject as though it were something extremely close to him; as though it is an internal debate he has been having with himself for sometime. Through interviewing a blend of evangelical pro-life extremists, reputable academics and women who have had abortions, Kaye relays the pro-life/pro-choice arguments back and forth without immediate emphasis on either side.
I found the only neutral rest-bite to come through the placid, gracious and brilliantly crafted commentaries from Noam Chomsky, who relates to the both sides of the argument using logical deduction and sympathy. His quiet words soak up the debate as though they were a magical centerpiece, and even though they only last for a few moments, they make sense of the entire issue and spread gentle ripples throughout the remainder of the film.
Lake of Fire is an intense documentary. It is an attempt to make sense of one of the most difficult moral debates in scientific history and it achieves this by amplifying the drama, the dialectics and the distortions that need to be unraveled in order to formulate a justified opinion on either end of the spectrum.
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