There is a sense with this documentary, that the middle east is part of another world altogether. It opens with a fly over of Kuwait pre-war, looking like a place far removed from this world, with its quasi-religious skyscrapers welcoming the camera as it comes over the port. Satellites are shown post-war, blown apart in a tangled mass resembling a fallen space station. Echoing a sci-fi, but with a ghostlike feeling only reality can achieve. The images are reinforced by some of the most moving music ever composed. Herzog struggles with a large lump in his throat, to clarify the situation with infrequent narration. The situation speaks for itself, no words are necessary, the images and the music combine to get as close to representing the unrepresentable as possible. I recommend Godfrey Reggio's Koyaanisqatsi (1983) to fellow admires of this film, and it's message.
Review of Lessons of Darkness
