Lessons of Darkness

Lessons of Darkness

Lessons of Darkness

Lessons of Darkness

source: Lessons of Darkness

"Lessons of Darkness" is a spectacle of fire and flames, a look at the evil of mankind through the eyes of an extraterrestrial. It is a haunting, original experience, directed by one of the greatest of all filmmakers, the brilliant Werner Herzog. The film is often compared to Herzog's 1971 "documentary" "Fata Morgana" (which I think is one of the most wonderful and strange films ever made), due to its similar setting and style. However, "Lessons of Darkness" has none of the humor of "Fata Morgana", and, instead, it contains plenty of sheer horror. Throughout, the film displays images of war that are simultaneously breathtaking and horrifying. Herzog's narration adds to the film's non-human feeling. In the film, Herzog's narrator is a godlike figure, looking down at the horrific and disturbing nature of Earth and its people. This film manages to be more of an "experience" than a conventional "documentary". It's one of Herzog's most experimental works, as well as one of his finest and scariest.

Werner Herzog narrates sparingly from an alien's perspective, but for the most part lets the images do the talking themselves. And yes, there are some pretty powerful images contained within this 50 minute documentary. This is a pretty typical Herzog documentary, which if you aren't familiar with him, that means it's a pretty slow paced film. But the images are so great, if you let yourself get caught up in them, I don't see the slow pacing to be a problem. Herzog always says he's looking for "ecstatic truth" in his films. I think he achieved that with this one.

Gorgeous and moving. Nominated for a 1992 Academy Award for Best Documentary, this film stands back and lets the subject tell the story. There is little dialog, little is added to the footage from the director - the images and sparse interviews themselves are dramatic enough, and then some. The viewer is left to his or her own thoughts on the subject of world-scale war and its aftermath, inspiring a very personal and often spiritual experience. What Herzog did add frames the subject with appropriate intensity and awe, without becoming grandiose. I did not find the film to be especially "arty" or inaccessible, though an impatient frame of mind (not to mention a dependence on heavy-handed narrative) has lead to frustration and misunderstanding for some viewers. If you are interested in this subject matter, I would recommend "Fires of Kuwait", an IMAX film available on video (for sale). More astonishing footage, and the fascinating story of the firefighting teams that extinguished all 607 of the oil wells ignited by the retreating Iraqi troops.

Werner Hertzog's Lessons of Darkness is not your usual documentary. There's little narration, only two brief interviews, and no Nova style recreations. It's among the least informative docs I've seen, but it's not trying to educate. It exists merely as a visual record of the destruction wrought on Kuwait by Saddam's armies, and a reminder of the evils of which man is capable. On that level, it succeeds. The footage speaks for itself; you don't need anyone to tell you that you're looking at hell on earth. Plus, Lessons of Darkness isn't a strait documentary in the purest sense. It's also intended as a silent parable of an apocalypse brought on by man's madness. When we see only endless desolation, fires and seas of oil stretching beyond the horizon, it's not hard to imagine that the entire world has been consumed. Some have considered this film to be anti-war. I suppose it is to a degree, although not overtly so. It doesn't deliver political commentary, or preach about the need for peace at any price but it does offer a stark reminder of the price of human conflict. And what a price there was. Cities looted, people raped and murdered, burning wells and lakes of oil as far as the eye can see. Looking at the destruction, I'm overcome with the pointlessness of it all. I can understand why the Iraqi troops stole everything up to the marble on the buildings, but what does it gain them to light up every well, bomb every storage tank, and douse a national park with millions of gallons of crude? What bitterness and depravity drives men to set a country ablaze? Even worse is what they did to the people. A mother tells how soldiers broke into her house at night, trampled her son almost to death, and shot her husband, enjoying themselves the whole time. There was no reason for this; it wasn't even done as part of a reprisal. How sick must a man be to derive pleasure from hurting an innocent child? Standing as a counterpoint to outright psychopathy of the invaders is the bravery and dedication of the firefighters putting out the blaze. There are no interviews with them, and no explanation of their craft, but simply seeing them drive a bulldozer or excavator up to mouth of hell, or physically manhandling a pipe junction onto a geyser of oil tells you that they must be incredibly courageous and a bit nuts. I personally cannot imagine what it must be like to work in such overpowering heat, clothes reeking of oil, with the knowledge that a single spark could blow you into kingdom come. The movie's overall effect is sobering and haunting, with eeriness added by the sound track. I'm not sure why Hertzog chose most of the classical pieces he did. Some are dirge-like and sad, but most seem more fitting for footage of the moon, or a volcano. The odd pairing of music and visuals did not detract from my enjoyment of the film, but others might be somewhat weirded out. I am also at a loss to explain the scene in which workers cast flaming rags into jets of oil, reigniting them. The director, in keeping with his vision of apocalypse, suggests that the men a seized with insanity, and have become so used to the fires that they cannot live in a world without them. This is of course not the case, but for the life of me I cannot fathom what end it served. All in all, this is not the film to see if want to learn more about the Gulf War and the rebuilding effort. However, if you are seeking a quiet reflection on the evil and madness that men are capable of, and a vision of what hell must surely resemble, this will do.

"There are deeper strata of truth in cinema, and there is such a thing as poetic, ecstatic truth. It is mysterious and elusive, and can be reached only through fabrication and imagination and stylization." - Werner Herzog Another apocalyptic tale from director Werner Herzog, "Lessons of Darkness" was filmed in Kuwait during the aftermath of the first Gulf War, and primarily consists of long, slow, swooping helicopter shots, all of which depict Arab landscapes covered in oil, ravaged by war and dotted with burning oil fields. The film ends with wordless shots of firefighters extinguishing flaming oil spills, before relighting them. The film has been accused of ignoring all political and historical context. This is partially true, but Herzog admits this himself with two strategically placed interviews in which we meet a woman who cannot speak and a son who has long lost the will to talk. The implication is that "Lessons of Darkness" is not a recounting of history but a grasp for some higher, ecstatic truth: namely that of oil obsessed white men repeatedly starting (and squelching) wars in foreign lands whilst locals suffer and are denied a voice. Today, of course, the West's Gulf War myths have been debunked and demythologized. Well known are stories about US misinformation, forged satellite photos, fake testimonies, the nurse Nayirah fiasco, the incubator lies and the fact that Saddam Hussein was a Western puppet. Even the tale of Iraqi forces setting Kuwaiti oil wells ablaze has been called into question, as a number of US soldiers have recently stepped forward and testified that they were themselves ordered to detonate explosive charges on some Kuwaiti wells. But Herzog is singularly uninterested in details. Instead he turns the Gulf War into a science fiction film, his audience forced to glide over alien terrain whilst witnessing stupid creatures setting their own planet ablaze. Misery, greed and ignorance cannot be escaped, and so the planet burns. Later Herzog documentaries adopt an even more apocalyptic tone, the director foretelling the end of our species altogether. 7.9/10 – At its worst, "Lessons of Darkness" aestheticizes and prettifies what should scar and horrify. See "Encounters at the End of the World", "The Wild Blue Yonder" and "The White Diamond" instead. Worth one viewing.

I'm not even going to try rating this Werner Herzog film. It isn't because it's bad--it's just that for the life of me, I have no idea how to score it--especially since it's unlike any other movie I have seen--and I've seen a lot! See it for yourself and I think you'll see what I mean. This film was made around the end of the first Gulf War in Kuwait and Iraq. Mostly, it consists of shots of the damage from the war on the landscape--particularly, but not exclusively, the oil wells deliberately destroyed by retreating Iraqi troops. I remember at the time, folks saying it would take DECADES to put out all the fires and clean up the mess. But, this was all crazy hyperbole and the cleanup was amazingly short--and so apparently Herzog and his crew had to rush there to document the hellish aftereffects of the war. Interestingly, the film is NOT about who was or wasn't at fault (though it did show the torture equipment used by the Iraqis)--more just an odd vision of the war's end. I say odd because the film was filled with unusual classical-style music, Herzog's strange narration and lacked the formal structure of a documentary. It's sort of a case where you just sit back and suck it all in--and it's not in any way like a typical Hollywood film! Well filmed but probably not everyone's cup of tea!