England,
1992, 53 min
Shown in 1993 / 2000
CREDITS
- dir
-
Werner Herzog
- prod
-
Paul Beriff, Werner Herzog
- cam
-
Paul Berriff
- editor
-
Rainer Strandke
- source
-
Premiere Medien GMBH & Co., Medienalle 4, 85774 Unterföming, Germany. FAX: 49-89-99-58-64-29
- gga award
-
Television, Environment
-
COMMENTS
First shown in 1993 with Polygon; Werner Herzog in person. Shown as part of the Indelible Images series in 2000, selected by Ellen Bruno.
OTHER
In the Kuwait oilfields in the aftermath of the Gulf War, Herzog finds another apocalyptic locale for the haunting Lessons of Darkness. The film is, in his words, “a poetic vision of the new landscapes which have emerged in Kuwait—a national park of the future.” Shooting just a week before the last oil fire was put out, Herzog captures, with characteristically surreal images, the grotesque beauty of a desert storm of fire, smoke and spewing oil brought on by war’s destruction. Utilizing aerial photography and music from such composers as Mahler, Prokofiev and Wagner, Herzog takes us on a mesmerizing tour of “Satan’s National Park.”
FACTOID #12
In our occasional film series, The Unvanquished, we showcased the work of filmmakers who continued to make their art despite suffering artistic repression. Those honored include directors Paul Carpita (1996), Paul Meyer (1996), Abraham Polonsky (1996) and John Berry (1998) and actors Karen Morley (1999) and Behrouz Vossoughi (2001).
