Into the Abyss

I'm still not entirely sure how to write about Into the Abyss, except to say that it's about so much more than the death penalty. Herzog has outright said that he opposes capital punishment, but Into the Abyss doesn't try to be political. He doesn't put the death penalty in a vacuum; the film details the triple homicide committed by the two prisoners Jason Burkett and Michael Perry from the actual crime scene all the way through the execution of Michael Perry. Into the Abyss is more about the consequences of crime and murder than simply an examination of the death penalty.

Herzog looks at all sides of the murder, from the victim's families to the prisoner's acquaintances to the poverty and crime in the area they grew up in, to the chaplain and officer that are involved in the execution ritual. He attempts to explain but not necessarily excuse why anyone would commit murder, and that leads to the most moving parts of the film, where he interviews Jason Burkett's father, who is also in jail and has been for most of Jason's life. I can't do justice to his scenes in print except to say that it left me in tears.

At least one critic has mentioned that the title of the film could be the title for a lot of Herzog films, and while that's definitely true, I think it does fit best here. The abyss isn't even necessarily death, but the grief of the victims' families, the regret from a father that wasn't there, the trap of poverty and delinquency, the weight of working in a place where you know the person you are looking at is going to die. Herzog's last documentary, Cave of Forgotten Dreams, has gotten more attention, but I truly believe that Into the Abyss is the more meaningful film.