With the likes of Senna, Cave of Forgotten Dreams, Life in a Day, The Interrupters and Dreams of a Life wowing critics and audiences alike in 2011, the profile of documentary in cinema has perhaps never been higher. This is in no small part down to companies such as London-based DocHouse, who aim to promote and increase the visibility of documentary filmmaking in the UK through events, education and participation.
DocHouse launched their new strand of events DocHouse Thursdays last week with a sold-out preview of Werner Herzog’s new documentary Into the Abyss at London’s wonderful Prince Charles Cinema. Winner of the Grierson Award for best documentary at last year’s BFI London Film Festival, Into the Abyss arrived with a formidable reputation and didn’t disappoint.
A multilayered tale of a triple homicide and its aftermath, the film unfolds as a series of interviews with those involved in the crime, including death row inmate Michael Perry and accomplice Jason Burkett, who received a life prison sentence. Despite being staunchly anti-capital punishment in his views, Herzog avoids strident polemic and instead presents a touching, thought-provoking portrait of an economically depressed Texan community in which education and ambition are low in supply, and tragedy seems par for the course.
Despite its grim subject matter, Into the Abyss is not a depressing film. Glimmers of hope are provided by the supporting cast – including an ex-Death Row employee who undergoes a change of heart – while Herzog’s quirky, unorthodox interviewing technique and the sometimes baffled responses he elicits is guaranteed to raise an eyebrow or two.
The screening was followed by a candid Q&A with Herzog’s long-time producer Andre Singer, who expounded upon a number of topics including Herzog’s uncompromising filmmaking style, and his mercurial relationship with legendary actor Klaus Kinski (which has been documented in 1999’s excellent My Best Fiend). Singer also revealed that Into the Abyss is just the first in a series of films Herzog is making on a Death Row theme; four more will be screened later this year on Channel 4.
The next edition of DocHouse Thursdays takes place on January 12 at Riverside Studios with a screening of Nikolaus Geyrhalter’s subtly apocalyptic view of Western consumerism and decadence Abendland. After that comes an exclusive screening of Michael Rapaport’s brilliant Beats Rhymes and Life: The Travels of A Tribe Called Quest on January 19 at the Tricycle cinema, an enthralling portrait of the titular hip-hop innovators.
Music is also theme for the final DocHouse Thursday of the month on January 26, Beyond the Notes, a portrayal of the legendary saxophonist Sonny Rollins screening at Rich Mix. DocHouse Thursdays continues into February.
For more information about the work of DocHouse visit their website dochouse.org or follow @InTheDocHouse on Twitter.
Into The Abyss – DocHouse Thursdays (text) by Ashley Clark is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.
