From One Second to the Next

This is an excellent short form documentary. Werner Herzog is a bit of a character and you never know what his movies are all different* so I always try to catch his stuff. But what I really want to know is why he made this one. My theory is that Herzog got caught in California text messaging while driving a couple times and the judge made him do a movie about it instead of community service. If anybody knows, please PM me.

9/10

*Herzog makes documentaries, feature films, and even acts in other people's movies.

"From One Second to the Next", by the renowned documentarian Werner Herzog, is a powerful short on the most tragic consequences resulting in people texting while driving. Herzog takes the subject that while serious may appear too general or simplistic a topic, and makes it a really personal, moving experience, showing both side of several very sad incidents. The interviews of both loved ones of victims, and of those whose texting caused tragedies (those who were willing to speak) are very powerful and moving.

Beyond all this is a dire warning to anyone who has this reckless habit to get away with it right away, and those haven't garnered it to make sure they don't start. No words which you can wait to say later—it can only take one word, an abbreviation of a few letters—can ever be worth the needless taking of a human life.

This relatively short film is about the consequences of texting and driving and a warning for viewers to not to do it. Herzog has considerable skill in interviewing and assembling the interviews in order to make a point or create a narrative. We can see his artistry here, but we're left wondering: what is it all about, really? Both victims and perpetrators of texting and driving accidents are interviewed. Of course it's what you'd expect: descriptions of the carnage, devastated families and offenders who have to live with guilt for the rest of their lives. These are the kind of scenes that are played out in any fatal accident, no matter what the cause. And except for the particular reason for driver distraction, in this case texting, they are generic to all bad accidents. This exercise in persuasion is powerful, moving, and pointless. Why? Because anyone dumb enough to text and drive wouldn't be watching a Werner Herzog film to get pointers on driver ed. Telling a person not to text and drive is like telling him not to stick his hand in a wood chipper while it's running. You don't warn people like that about the dangers of doing something anyone with half a brain would know from the start not to do, you don't let them drive in the first place.

From One Second to the Next (2013)

**** (out of 4)

This 34-minute documentary was produced by the major phone companies as a way to push their message of not texting and driving. The film talks to several people who were the cause of deadly accidents or the victim of such accidents due to someone texting while driving.

These type of educational films have been around for decades and more often than not they're pretty laughable and over-dramatic to the point where they're viewed today as something to have a party with while watching. That's certainly not the case with this one but that should be expected since you've got a filmmaker like Werner Herzog behind the camera. Without question he's one of the greatest filmmakers to ever live and there's no doubt that he knows how to make an emotional documentary. This film here certainly nails home its message of "waiting" to text and I think it's going to have an impact on whoever watches it. That doesn't mean it's going to make people stop texting while driving but I think the filmmaker and producers would be happy even if it just saved one life.

The stories told are pretty heartbreaking to watch and the entire film has a very somber, cold and depressing feel to it. Some have criticized it for showing redemption but I think that really misses the point. After all, life has to go on after such traumatic events and I think Herzog is simply showing the impact of one's actions and what life will be like trying to move past it. The story are all extremely well-told and for the most part the film is pretty flawless from a technical stand point. If you're familiar with the work of Herzog then you'll know that a lot of times during his documentaries he's on screen talking to the people being interviewed. It's curious to see he doesn't do that here and instead just lets the people tell their stories.

FROM ONE SECOND TO THE NEXT certainly has a message behind it and Herzog brings that point across with ease.

I don't know if I'm getting old or I'm getting self righteous when I say I've never really found the appeal of having cell phone/mobile phone . I've got one but is rarely used to send calls only to receive them . Since I only have a cheap one that cost 10 pounds sterling it's difficult to send text on it and have never learned to send text . Astonishing I know but no big deal , and yet some people seem to exist only to receive and send text messages . Has anyone here walked through the busy concourse of an airport and had to dodge numerous idiots with their ugly faces buried in their mobile as they type a text message . If they had brains they'd be dangerous . If they had a car they'd would be potential killers and this documentary by Werner Herzog shows why

FROM ONE SECOND TO THE NEXT isn't perhaps a fitting title because my reading of the title suggests that it may mean it only takes a second of carelessness of texting to cause irredeemable carnage and lifelong grief to a stranger who has done you no harm and who you didn't know even existed till you ran in to them . Perhaps the title can also mean that the whole universe has changed - and not for the better - for someone within that second ? It's a rather ambiguous title and one that doesn't work very well

Judging a documentary by its title is like judging a book by its cover and its content that is of paramount importance . In this case Herzog grabs you right from the start . We're shown a black mother of a child who is the victim and a driver who hit her son while texting . She explains her high hopes for her son who was going to excel at sport but that dream is now over . . There is a knock on the door and she exclaims her son is back from school and you can may be second guess as to what will be revealed next . Sure enough her son's helper has brought him back from school - by pushing his wheelchair . The documentary continues along the same lines . The much loved sister who has been left brain damaged by a texting driver , the blacksmith who has had to give up the job he loved after having vertebrae broken by a texting driver and the daughter who was about to be married and lost her father to a texting driver just before the wedding

So far so sad and just in case you aren't moved by these stories of real life tragedy depressing music is played on the soundtrack ( Not sure if I've picked Bob up wrong as to " fake music " but the copy I saw did have a musical track ) and all this is very hard hitting and the emotional equivalent of getting kicked in the teeth . . Strange then that Herzog feels the need to include the stories of two drivers who have killed people while texting . Before you say I'll say it " That's because he's showing the trauma caused to people who have instigated a tragic accident . There lives have been ruined and will have to carry the guilt for the rest of their life " I doubt if that's the point of their inclusion however . What Herzog is doing deliberately or accidentally is making a film about redemption and forgiveness . One instigator of a fatal text driving incident that killed three children from the Amish community receives a letter from the bereaved father telling him that God is watching over him while another fatal instigator is met by the daughter of a man he killed . I'm afraid that if you kill someone it is forever and the more likely response is life long hatred from the families of people you killed especially if it's down to something as stupid as texting while driving which is no different from getting drunk and driving a car . Would we feel sympathy for drunk drivers involved in fatal crashes ? . Of course not and I guess this might be the reason why it hasn't been nominated for an Oscar in the short documentary category