Lo and Behold: Reveries of the Connected World

I was lucky to see this at Sundance with one of the best audiences.

Somehow, even after Werner's extensive resume, this was his most immersive and informative documentary yet.

The film doesn't just touch on the basic history and fundamentals of the Internet, but provides such a deep understanding of its past, present, and future. It dives into the wonders of what is possible while carefully reminding us about its dangers, all while Werner gives a very comedic voice-over.

It's a shame that Roger Ebert isn't around to view this film. I know he would've been proud of his friend for creating such an accomplishment in documentary filmmaking.

Werner Herzog has a long history of making some of the best and most well researched documentaries I've ever seen, and this one might just be the most relevant in today's world. Lo and Behold focuses on the effects things such as the internet have had on our planet, as well as all the things that can be considered related to the internet such as AI, video games, and hackers. While the film is not that short, it's hard to describe its contents since so many technical terms get thrown around. He begins at the University of California where, at the end of the 60s, pioneering work on the internet itself started, and we get a look at the very first computer installed there. Werner then interviews a bunch of people who work in various fields pertaining to technology, such as self-driving cars, autonomous robots that play football with each other, and radio telescopes that search the universe for any auditory signs of intelligent life. He even talks to SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, who even at this stage wants to send people (and the internet) to Mars, and believes it will be feasible soon. He's convinced that after the initial difficulties of establishing a colony on mars is achieved, giving the people living there internet access will be a pretty easy task: mars' hostile environment means internet coverage would only need to cover the limited amount of structures in the colony itself, which (according to Musk) would only require a few satellites. Of course, relaying information back to Earth would be somewhat of a problem, as the two planets are often at varying distances to each other. Herzog speaks with people that develop cars that are able to drive themselves, which is ironically a business Elon has been getting into in recent times. Someone tells Werner about how even though there are still many advancements to be made, self-driving cars already have a feature that enables them to learn from their own mistakes, and not only this, they're able to transfer the information to other cars. This allows the designers to continuously make lifesaving adjustments to the vehicles as soon as new information becomes available. Next, Werner deals with a serious subject, and devotes a whole chapter as to how the internet has been responsible for just as much evil as good. In 2006, a teenage girl named Nikki was killed in a motor collision in california. Pictures of her corpse (which were almost unrecognizable) were posted online, and within hours, millions of people had seen them. Due to the anonymous nature of the internet, some people will go out of their way to post extremely offensive and abhorrent things that you normally couldn't get away with in real life, and many users of different websites began taunting Nikki's family over this incident. Because of these cowardly attacks, her family has completely withdrawn from using the internet, and they are convinced it is immoral and evil rather than just bad. Unfortunately, the online world is full of people like this because there's no one to tell them they can't behave this way. It really should be against the law, but with no practical way to enforce it, it will remain a fantasy. Finally, Werner discusses the implications of hacking and artificial intelligence, the latter having a really big effect on the present. A guy who was a former hacker himself reveals some insight into the world of cybercriminal activity. Apparently, people are the weak link in cybersecurity operations, not technology itself. If you have a really well-protected company that has an expensive firewall and enviable antivirus software, all it takes is someone to persuade or bribe someone at that company, and the hacker is in. As for AI, some people being interviewed are convinced that within the next 60 years or so most manual labor jobs will be performed by robots, as they do repetitive tasks well. We have a long way to go however, since even insects are capable of more advanced actions than most robots. The internet is such a massive place, assembling a book of every user on it would stretch on for 72 miles, and nobody can predict what it will end up doing in the future. Once again, Herzog impresses me. I didn't really agree with Elon's plan of making mars a second home for humanity itself, since even if it works out someday, people will be restricted to living in bubbles because the whole planet is a barren rock that is -150 degrees. Werner does give his own thoughts on different subjects during the film but mostly lets the interviewees speak for him. Some of the concepts are beyond even my level of understanding when it comes to computers, but overall, this documentary was a smartly made, intelligently laid out presentation on arguably the most important innovation of this era.

As another reviewer pointed out, this documentary lacked somewhat in depth, mostly due to the sheer number of topics covered (I believe there were 10). That's quite a few for a 98 minute work, so don't expect a terribly lengthy discussion on any one topic. Nonetheless, I thought it was highly entertaining with plenty of dry, computer nerdy humor while also managing to squeeze in enough serious commentary to make this overall a very thought provoking documentary.

Each topic is (obviously) related to the internet and what has developed from and within it, and each topic is covered primarily through interviews with experts in various fields (for many of the experts interviewed, their enthusiasm for the subject is palpable and quite endearing), with a few breaks for personal interest stories related to a given topic. For the most part, the topics are covered in chronological order.

To me, the early days of the internet, artificial intelligence, and the "internet of me" were the best sections, but all were worthwhile. The sections on AI and "the internet of me" in particular really make you wonder what the world will look like in 20 or 30 years. It's difficult to think of another invention or innovation that has changed society as pervasively or as quickly as the internet has. This film does a nice job of capturing that recent history and imaginatively foreshadowing what might be just around the corner.

The internet is only a small subject for those that (like me) see it in the simple terms of what I know I do on it – check emails, read information, etc. However with such an expansive subject it was a good thing that the curious mind of Herzog was given the project of examining it in this film. I have read some people complain about the weakness of this film as a 'documentary', with comments about how key players such as Mark Zuckerberg and others are not included; the answer to such criticism is in the title, because this is not a documentary so much as it is a reverie, which is to say a musing and free-floating daydream through the subject.

In the editing suite this was obviously reined in somewhat because the film is structured into broad chapters. This helps the film be watchable, but importantly does not lose the sense of drifting through the subject with plenty to think about but nothing too solid that would break the state of reverie. Whether or not this works for you will depend on the individual, but Herzog's style made it work for me because he drives this approach with his angles and his line of thought (although he often seems less present than in some other of his films). It doesn't all fit together neatly of course, and at times tonally it is uneven, but mostly it is a quite fascinating wander through the ideas and connections of the internet, and is well worth seeing for what it leaves you with as much as what it offers directly.

It's interesting how Werner Herzog doesn't even own a cell phone, but his examination of the Internet can be more smart, unique, terrifying, entertaining, weird, and funny than anyone else's.

"Lo and Behold, Reveries of the Connected World" is Werner Herzog's latest documentary film, and it takes an extraordinary look at the Internet. There's plenty of screen time given to both how it affects humans, and the science behind it all. There's hackers and robots, as well as stories about Internet addiction and abuse. There's comedy, tragedy, horror-and it's all real, and it's really, really fascinating. Sometimes when a film covers a lot of material it becomes overwhelming, and tonally all over the place, but Herzog manages to balance everything just perfectly so the whole film works very well and never feels like too much.

There's plenty of fun to be had watching "Lo and Behold". It's not just an average, boring science documentary, it's a genuinely entertaining movie. Some of the most fascinating people you'll ever see are interviewed, and they tell some of the most fascinating stories you'll ever hear, and it's all filled with humor and, at times, even absurdity. It's fun to watch, and it will make you think. There's plenty of questions raised that are amazing, and there's plenty raised that are scary. It's a movie unlike any other I've seen be released this year, and it will blow your mind!