Friday, October 26, 2007
Lake of Fire
Posted by Jim Ridley on Fri, Oct 26, 2007 at 11:41 AM
The issue, ironically enough, is choice. This weekend in local theaters, you can see Bella, a drama that's getting support from pro-life groups, or you can see Lake of Fire, a documentary on abortion that gives weight to both sides. I haven't seen Bella, but Lake of Fire is extraordinary. Here's what the Scene ran before its screening earlier this year at the Nashville Film Festival:
Beautifully (and ironically) shot in black and white over 17 years by director Tony Kaye, best known for the Edward Norton neo-Nazi drama American History X, this staggering documentary about the abortion debate leaves no position unchallenged—yet both sides may likely feel that it proves their point. Kaye talks without judgment to pro-choice and anti-abortion zealots, incorporates a spectrum of voices from Noam Chomsky to Nat Hentoff to pro-life activist Randall Terry, follows a clearly conflicted woman to her appointment at a clinic, and gives equal consideration to murdered clinic workers and the clearly human remains of aborted fetuses. The result is not a tendentious screed but an engrossing and extraordinarily rich examination of moral impasse. It forces both sides to grapple with the real issue: the sanctity of life.
I'd love to hear from anyone who sees either film over the weekend.
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