Customer Reviews

Lake of Fire

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I saw this film at a Toronto Int'l Film Festival industry screening and thought it was one of best documentaries I have EVER seen! I've read a couple of reviews that have called it the definitive film on the subject of abortion - I completely agree. I've never seen anything so complex, complete and emotionally wrenching as this epic work. It stayed with me long after the screening. In fact, it's been a couple of years since I've seen LAKE OF FIRE and it continues to haunt my thoughts. I weeped at the end. My only criticisms are it's length (far too long) and it's use of music, which often bordered on excessive and manipulative. But, those are relatively small concerns when weighed against the film's many positives.

I LOVE documentaries and have seen nearly every major work produced in the past 20 to 30 years (as well as not so major films). "Lake of Fire" may well be my favorite - I'm still deciding if any of the other films I've loved delivered the same unrelenting, yet profoundly emotional punch to the gut that this one did. This is the best film no one has ever seen! What a pity!!!!

****1/2

We've been taught to believe that the purest and best documentaries are those that take a definitive stand on an issue. Such a one-sided approach is supposed to bespeak a righteous passion on the part of a filmmaker - as if dogmatism, in and of itself, were an indisputable virtue. But what if the issue at hand is such a morally complex one that it simply doesn`t lend itself to the strident arguments and easy answers of a black-and-white diatribe? Might it not, then, be best to drop the "know-it-all" posture of the partisan zealot and, instead, attempt to look at both sides of the issue from a position of objectivity and fairness?

That is the approach that filmmaker Tony Kaye has taken in "Lake of Fire," a documentary on abortion that attempts to examine both sides of the issue in as unbiased and evenhanded a way as possible. For once, the impassioned spokespersons in both the "pro-life" and "pro-choice" camps are free to have their say and to make their case, without commentary or condemnation from a judgmental third party. In so doing, he has fashioned an unflinching and uncompromising look at one of the issues that most divides Americans today - and will surely do so for a very long time to come.

Watching "Lake of Fire" is a bit like being a ping pong ball in a high-stakes table tennis match. Just as we find ourselves agreeing with a representative from one side of the equation, we are bandied back to the opposing side by what appear to be equally compelling arguments emanating from a spokesperson there. And back and forth we go. For while there are "nutcases" and "screwballs" on both sides of the divide (and they certainly get ample opportunity to voice their views here), many of the people who are interviewed offer sound, reasoned arguments for the positions they take. At a lengthy two hours and thirty-two minutes, Kaye's film has plenty of time to take us into the emotionally-charged world of abortion politics, represented most vividly by the impassioned rallies and protest marches that all too often devolve into name-calling shouting matches that cloud the issue and further alienate those in the political center. Moreover, in what is essentially a new American "civil war," both sides come to the battlefield armed with gruesome images of those who have already perished in the conflict - the pro-lifers of dismembered fetuses, the pro-choicers of murdered doctors and victims of "back alley" abortions.

Kaye is to be particularly commended for not sanitizing or sugarcoating the actual abortion process, clearly assuming that we are grown up enough to face the truth without the need for coyness or comforting filters. Intriguingly, Kaye has opted to film his movie in black-and-white rather than color, a very shrewd and wise decision, since the stark imagery serves to underline the seriousness and gravity of the issue.

If there's a weakness to the film it is that there may be a bit too much emphasis on the movers and shakers in each of the groups and not enough on the ordinary, average citizens whose lives have been directly affected or severely altered by abortion (or the lack thereof). The movie does, however, end on such a note, taking us along with a young woman as she goes through the step-by-step process of an actual abortion. It reminds us that, after all the speeches and marches, all the clinic protests and killing of doctors, the issue finally comes down to an individual woman and the agonizing decision that she alone must make.

With his film, Kaye clearly wants to make us think, but he doesn't tell us HOW to think - and that`s what separates his work from that of so many of his filmmaking contemporaries. How people will react to this film is anyone`s guess. All I know is that, no matter which side of the struggle you may come down on - or even if you have somehow managed to remain scrupulously neutral about it up to this point - "Lake of Fire" will indeed make you think long and hard about the issue.

"Lake of Fire" is an in-depth look at the Abortion issue. No matter which side you happen to belong, Tony Kaye gives both sides equal time. There are interviews of people off the street, as well as comments from Writers, Attorneys, Doctors, and Patients on the subject. There is no narrative, and Tony Kaye was wise to let these people speak for themselves.

There were many issues raised within the subject of Abortion, on both sides, that make one go HMMMMMM. There IS graphic footage contained in this film, so wait until the kids have gone to bed, to pop this film in the DVD player.

The most surprising thing is that the woman who is at the heart of the landmark Roe V Wade decision, is now in total opposition to the Law she was instrumental in creating. The subject of Abortion clinic bombings and the assassinations of physicians who work in Abortion clinics is not only touched upon, but the blurring of the Law vs. Morality argument is a case in point of how divided we are, when the right to life issue is raised. We see in the film, tapes of the bombers/shooters making their case to the police while in custody. I may be a bit biased, but the Pro-Lifers looked a little crazy to me. It's hard to see someone's point of view when Religion makes it's way into a conversation about this subject.

Whether you are Pro-Life, or Pro-Choice, this film is an education in what defines us as human beings. Does life begin at birth, or the Zygote stage of developement? How do we resolve the issue? I don't believe it really can be. I believe in the right to choose, to have control over one's body, financial security and education. There are many women today, who would have been marginalized, and possibly welfare mothers, were it not for Roe V Wade.

Women, as well as Men, owe it to themselves to see this film. There is no better film out there, that is this comprehensive. You will be changed after seeing it.

I can't add much to the great reviews already written here, other than to say I think this doc will leave the vast majority of people at least a little uncomfortable with their stance on the issue of abortion. It probably won't change anyone's mind (I don't believe that's the film's intent) but it will shine some light on why people feel so strongly about the issue - on both sides. And why there are no easy answers.

This documentary is hard to watch and very moving.

Regardless of your views on abortion this is a must watch.

It will help you understand "the other side" regardless of which "side" your on. I recommend it.

Tony Kaye gives us a brave, challenging, intelligent documentary with "Lake A Fire," a film that boldly explores the many depths of one of the most explosive issues in American history: Abortion rights. This is the definitive record on the subject, at least the best documentary ever assembled about a topic Americans have been grappling with for decades. Kaye's construction is brilliant, there is no narrator, no central plot, instead Kaye takes us on a 15-year journey told through the voices of both sides of the issue. We see Pro-Choice activists describing their conviction of a woman's right to choose in an unequal society, but we also see the explosive response by the radical right as they resort to intimidation, even terrorism to express their point. This is a film of ideas, literally because Kaye is not giving us one sole point of view or promoting any particular stance, he simply lays down both arguments. There are great insights from nurses, religious leaders and journalists while a more philosophical tone is provided by figures such as Alan Dershowitz and Noam Chomsky. The viewer will be challenged by logical discussions promoting freedom to choose but also by images of aborted fetuses, limbs and heads floating in aborted liquid. "Lake Of Fire" also transcends being a simple documentary about one issue, in this film we see the basic struggles of American society. Consider the very frightening sections which dig deep into the violent underbelly of radical Christian America, as religious fundementalists call for violence, assassinations and theocratic order, we realize terrorism is not exclusive to foreign countries, it can breed anywhere. Kaye, the director of the popular "American History X," shoots his film with a haunting, beautiful black and white look which expands the film's epic scope and impact. He doesn't use fancy tricks, he let's us see faces making their case, demonstrations trying to get points across, the abortion procedure in it's entirety, to challenge the viewer into constructing an opinion or idea on his/her own. "Lake Of Fire" in a sense embodies American culture, our pitfalls and clashes. Noam Chomsky gives the most clear-headed opinion as he mentions both the preservation of life and the right to choose are valid arguments, but as a society we need to discuss these complex issues instead of resorting to ranting and dogma, this is what Kaye does as a filmmaker with "Lake Of Fire." A great American film.

To my mind this Documentary is on par with GREY GARDENS and HARLAN COUNTY, USA in that it shows the rest of us how it's done. You film everything you can. You film it well. You extract yourself from the product to the best of your ability. And you cut it together without comment or motive but with artful, narrative grace, again, to the best of your ability. Kaye achieves all of that here.

Beyond that, this is a work of staggering humanity. The director cares about people, all people, and is fascinated by the way we address the most complex questions. If you're a doc fan, or simply interested in this issue... this is the real thing.

I watched the film a little while ago, and it's an important and well-made film, often portraying with force the emotional intensity of the issue.

However, I can't recommend it for everyone, but really only for the discerning viewer. This not because I'm prudish or anything, but I can see where this film may have the opposite effect of understanding the other. I could see where people of one side will walk away from this film thinking even more ill of the other side; pro-lifers will think "abortionists" are even sicker and more sinful than they imagined, and the pro-choice crowd will grow in their affirmation that they are only up against fanatics no different than Al-Qaeda. I think this is an unfortunate drawback of the film. But the discerning viewer I think can gain a greater understanding from watching this film of the emotion, and the complex disconnected reasoning that drives the different parties in this issue to such extremes.

This is easily one of the most difficult films I've ever watched. It is a documentary about the abortion issue. It is told as objectively as humanly possible. Whatever your position, you will be angry with the story. It takes you into the operating room and you watch two abortion procedures as they happen. It shows the baby being suctioned out and the doctor emptying the bag into a dish to count all the body parts to make sure nothing has been left. Kaye takes you into the middle of the picket lines where both sides are shouting and cursing one another. You are there with a young woman when her boyfriend picks her up to take her to the clinic for the abortion and you sit in on her pre-op interview, view the abortion and hear the emotions she is experiencing after the procedure. You go into the homes and offices of those active in both the pro-life and pro-choice sides and hear their stories. You will hear one of the guests speculate why neither political party seems to want the issue to go away as it is an issue that activates the parties' bases like almost no other and it is always a winner in raising money. You will hear from pro-life activists that believe murdering doctors who perform abortions is morally necessary and justified. You will hear the remarkable conversion of Norma McCorvey, the anonymous Jane Doe in Roe vs Wade, from abortion advocate to pro-life Christian. You will hear some honest discussion about why abortion is such an emotional and divisive issue and how we must raise the level of discussion to more than the rhetoric that is typical currently from both sides. Is there room for compromise or is this an issue that will forever divide our country? I do not know anyone who is neutral on this subject. This film will only help to raise the understanding on both sides of this very, very divisive and emotional subject and hopefully lead to meaningful and serious discussion between the viewpoints. www.lusreviews.blogspot.com

In checking IMDB, I find this film received little coverage on the awards circuit, which is surprising. Perhaps because of the film's controversial subject, many festivals, theatre owners and critics deemed it wiser not to enter the fray - and frankly, shame on them for doing so. This was a risky project to take on, but that's what good documentaries are suppose to do, and this particular documentary succeeds beautifully, providing new insight on a subject, abortion, that's otherwise grown murky with knee-jerk belligerence and political sloganeering. Lake of Fire should have been applauded and deserves to be seen by the broader public. Instead, the industry turned its back on it out of cowardice.