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0 out of 2 people found the following comment useful:-
Mission Accomplished, 30 December 2005
Author:
terry nienhuis ([email protected]) from Cullowhee, N.C.
Lessons of Darkness (1992) looks and acts like a companion piece to
Fata Morgana (1971). As with the earlier film, Lessons either captures
viewers or leaves them confused and bored within the first few minutes.
Early in Lessons we see an aerial shot of an unusual city. It is
obviously a contemporary urban area because we see highways, traffic,
stoplights, and large buildings, but it is also obvious that it is not
an American city. The narrator (Herzog) announces that this city is
about to be destroyed by war and the thought of this strange but
vibrant place being destroyed becomes completely repugnant. Thus,
Herzog succeeds here with the approach he initially planned and then
abandoned in Fata Morgana. Lessons of Darkness triumphs as a mock
Science Fiction story of an apocalypse that threatens all of
civilization. Luckily, it doesn't take a college education to realize
that the footage is shot in Iraq in the aftermath of the First Gulf
War. Luckily as well, Herzog's anti-war statement does not need to be
explicit to be effective. Early in the film, interviews with two Iraqi
women suggest the human price of this military event. In the rest of
the film, humans appear to be on the periphery of the "action" but they
keep coming back to the center of our consciousness. Those who persist
in their viewing will eventually encounter a chilling repetitiveness in
this film (the fires are still burning!) However, that repetitiveness
can become cumulative and mesmerizing. This is not a film experience
for everyone, but for those who have a taste for it the film will be
unforgettable.
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