Werner Hertzog's Lessons of Darkness is not your usual documentary. There's little narration, only two brief interviews, and no Nova style recreations. It's among the least informative docs I've seen, but it's not trying to educate. It exists merely as a visual record of the destruction wrought on Kuwait by Saddam's armies, and a reminder of the evils of which man is capable. On that level, it succeeds. The footage speaks for itself; you don't need anyone to tell you that you're looking at hell on earth.
Plus, Lessons of Darkness isn't a strait documentary in the purest sense. It's also intended as a silent parable of an apocalypse brought on by man's madness. When we see only endless desolation, fires and seas of oil stretching beyond the horizon, it's not hard to imagine that the entire world has been consumed. Some have considered this film to be anti-war. I suppose it is to a degree, although not overtly so. It doesn't deliver political commentary, or preach about the need for peace at any price but it does offer a stark reminder of the price of human conflict.
And what a price there was. Cities looted, people raped and murdered, burning wells and lakes of oil as far as the eye can see. Looking at the destruction, I'm overcome with the pointlessness of it all. I can understand why the Iraqi troops stole everything up to the marble on the buildings, but what does it gain them to light up every well, bomb every storage tank, and douse a national park with millions of gallons of crude? What bitterness and depravity drives men to set a country ablaze?
Even worse is what they did to the people. A mother tells how soldiers broke into her house at night, trampled her son almost to death, and shot her husband, enjoying themselves the whole time. There was no reason for this; it wasn't even done as part of a reprisal. How sick must a man be to derive pleasure from hurting an innocent child? Standing as a counterpoint to outright psychopathy of the invaders is the bravery and dedication of the firefighters putting out the blaze. There are no interviews with them, and no explanation of their craft, but simply seeing them drive a bulldozer or excavator up to mouth of hell, or physically manhandling a pipe junction onto a geyser of oil tells you that they must be incredibly courageous and a bit nuts. I personally cannot imagine what it must be like to work in such overpowering heat, clothes reeking of oil, with the knowledge that a single spark could blow you into kingdom come.
The movie's overall effect is sobering and haunting, with eeriness added by the sound track. I'm not sure why Hertzog chose most of the classical pieces he did. Some are dirge-like and sad, but most seem more fitting for footage of the moon, or a volcano. The odd pairing of music and visuals did not detract from my enjoyment of the film, but others might be somewhat weirded out. I am also at a loss to explain the scene in which workers cast flaming rags into jets of oil, reigniting them. The director, in keeping with his vision of apocalypse, suggests that the men a seized with insanity, and have become so used to the fires that they cannot live in a world without them. This is of course not the case, but for the life of me I cannot fathom what end it served.
All in all, this is not the film to see if want to learn more about the Gulf War and the rebuilding effort. However, if you are seeking a quiet reflection on the evil and madness that men are capable of, and a vision of what hell must surely resemble, this will do.
