"Lessons of Darkness" is a visual meditation on the nature of destruction. It is a short 55 minutes in length and has little talking, but it is exactly as long as it needs to be. It shows natural destruction and human suffering and looks to explore why they exist. Much of the greatness of the film is not just the philosophical points it raises through its imagery, but its dark and gloomy atmosphere, that makes it feel like you're staring into the abyss of Hell.
The film shows a city ruined by its inhabitants, and uses these visuals and few words to express thoughts about nature's relation to destruction. The film suggests that destruction is inherent to nature and humanity, as people feel the need to hurt other humans, while nature exists in a constart state of potential destruction, as evidenced by the opening shot which shows a man encountering an alien on another planet, and the first thing he sees is fire roaring behind him. Because of this, everything around us can be completely changed as we know it at a moments notice. Destruction lives in us as it does in nature, constantly lurking beneath the surface, disguising itself as life like the oil lakes disguise themselves as water. We attempt to suppress this destruction but when we can't, we just use what we have at our disposal for our own personal benefit. However, when we do successfully suppress the destruction, we realize we lose purpose without it, showing why destruction is a part of nature. Without a fire to extinguish, what's the point?
The film shows a city ruined by its inhabitants, and uses these visuals and few words to express thoughts about nature's relation to destruction. The film suggests that destruction is inherent to nature and humanity, as people feel the need to hurt other humans, while nature exists in a constart state of potential destruction, as evidenced by the opening shot which shows a man encountering an alien on another planet, and the first thing he sees is fire roaring behind him. Because of this, everything around us can be completely changed as we know it at a moments notice. Destruction lives in us as it does in nature, constantly lurking beneath the surface, disguising itself as life like the oil lakes disguise themselves as water. We attempt to suppress this destruction but when we can't, we just use what we have at our disposal for our own personal benefit. However, when we do successfully suppress the destruction, we realize we lose purpose without it, showing why destruction is a part of nature. Without a fire to extinguish, what's the point?