Into The Abyss. (2011)
Directed and Written by Werner Herzog
Released 8 September 2011
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| Michael Perry |
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| Jason Burkett |
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| Lisa Stotler-Balhoun |
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| Charles Richardson |
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| Delbert Burkett |
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| Werner Herzog filming "Into The Abyss" |
Here is Richard Lopez, the chaplain at Death Row in the prison where Michael Perry is executed, and here is Fred Lewis, the captain on Death Row who quit his job and lost his pension for doing so.
1. As we asked today in class: your reaction to the film? Some of you spoke to this in class—go ahead and elaborate. For all of you, what moment or scene particularly stayed with you or struck you most powerfully—and why?
2. Why do you think the film is called "Into The Abyss"? Be sure to look up the definition of "abyss."
Choose one of the two to answer:
3. Did the film change or affect in any way your views of murder and/or murderers; the criminal justice system; or capital punishment? And in what way(s) did it change or affect—or not, I suppose—that view?
3. Can you connect the story of Michael Perry, Jason Burkett and Conroe, Texas, to what we heard from George Morton and his world? If so, in what way(s)? If not, what do you see as the difference(s) between George and these young men (and others too that speak to life in Conroe)?
As always, write about 250-300 words.
My first reaction was disturbed. I had a hard time sympathizing with Jason and Michael. I found it disgusting and shocking that they could kill three innocent people over 72 hours with a car. At the same time it made me very sad. I was sad for the victims and their families. None of them deserved what happened to them. I was also sad for Perry and Burkett, not in a sympathetic way just in the way that is sad to see someone with a doomed life ahead of them. The scene that really stuck with me was towards the end when Perry was being executed and we were shown his last words. He said that he forgave the victims family for sentencing him to death. This made me angry and upset because I felt that he had no right to say he forgave them. He is the one that killed people not them. They have nothing to be sorry for. To me that showed a lot about us character and made him even more sick than before. It made him seem selfish but also incapable of having emotions and regret for his actions. I think it was called Into the Abyss for two reasons. One, which was mentioned in the New York Times article, was the abyss of death. Fred Lewis even said how once someone gets onto the gurney they are there and not getting off. That is the beginning of the abyss. It then morphs into death which is never ending. The second reason is the emotions post crime. It’s never ending and affects everyone. It affects the victims in a very physical way with death and imprisonment. It affects the victims as we could see by both Lisa and Charles. It continues to affect people and it never will stop. It affects us watching this movie. It affects the law of capital punishment. It never stops. Not really honestly. I have always been conflicted about capital punishment because I think that sometimes it is needed. I wouldn’t necessarily say that Perry deserved death but I do think that in some cases it isn’t bad. I know a lot of people disagree with this but the way I look at it is if it was my family. If it was my family or my friend I know I would be so upset. I don’t know if another death would help my anger but I can see how it helps people like Lisa.
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ReplyDelete1. I thought the movie was fascinating. I liked that it had multiple perspectives of the crime, rather than just one. Because of this, it was hard to empathize with just one side of the story. I felt horribly for the families of the victims, but I also found myself wondering if capital punishment was justified for Michael Perry. To me, there were clearly sides of right and very wrong, but it was hard not to see just how tragic the events of the crime were to everyone involved. What stuck out to me most was Michael Perry’s behavior. When he’s talking about being executed soon, he says something along the lines of “I’m going to watch over my mom from heaven with a clear conscience and be at peace.” I wonder if he actually believed that. I would imagine that once you’re on death row, you have to convince yourself that you’re going to be okay when you die. I wonder if he had convinced himself that he didn’t even commit the crime, or if that is just a lie he was telling the camera.
ReplyDelete2. I think that the “abyss” is meant to symbolize the society and culture that these people were living in. Michael Perry was living in a car, and Jason Burkett was living in a trailer. It was very common for people to go to prison. Almost everyone said that they were related to someone in prison. It seemed as though drugs and violence were commonplace. The triple homicide was just one of many aspects of life in this Texas town. It seemed like the film was more of a commentary on the lives of the people involved with the crime rather than about the crime itself. The title tells the viewer that he or she will be peering into an abyss of crime and loss.
3. Though they seem to come from very different worlds, George Morton and Jason Burkett and Michael Perry actually lived in similar environments. They grew up around violence, crime, drugs, and guns. All three knew many people who ended up in prison. The difference, however, is that George did not commit such a horrible crime and turned his life around.
This film was so horrifying, I felt myself actively desensitizing myself to the input I was receiving. The moment that has stayed with me since the viewing is when the interrogator/interviewer told Perry something along the lines of, “You’re on death row for the murders of three individuals,” and all Perry said was “Mhmm.” This was so disturbing because it showed a complete lack of sympathy or even any negative emotions and was so incriminating. I can still see Perry’s jet black eyes. There are SO many potential reasons for naming this documentary “Into the Abyss.” The first definition of “abyss” is “a deep or seemingly bottomless chasm,” which I think pertains to how the prison system can swallow people whole into a never-ending pit where there is no escape. The second definition is “a wide or profound difference between people; a gulf,” which I think relates to the seemingly huge difference in people’s minds between “criminals” and “citizens.” I think the film really makes us question this as we may or may not come to sympathize with those on death row. An “abyss” is also described as “the regions of hell conceived of as a bottomless pit,” which I think is often the imagery associated with the death of a supposedly “bad” person, which is my surface view of (especially) Perry. I think the film heavily shows the “a catastrophic situation seen as likely to occur” definition of “abyss.” We see that Burkett comes from an incredibly unstable household. He was raised by a single disabled mother on food stamps with his father in prison and with three younger siblings to take care of. It seems almost impossible for Burkett not to have ended up where he is, chained to/with his father in the back of a prison bus. People can definitely become pre-packaged products of their environments, so yes, I see many connections between Burkett, Perry, Conroe, and George Morton and his world. When a child grows up in an environment with so few opportunities and where their role models perpetuate incarceration and unhealthy habits in their lifestyle and upbringing, they are likely to follow in those footsteps, which is often one of the forms of an “abyss” that the title implies.
ReplyDelete1. After seeing the film, I was a bit uncomfortbale with the way Jason and Michael acted throughout the film. They didn’t really come off as sympathetic, though they were in prison for such a brutal crime. I would say this disturbed me because how could you kill 3 people and not show any emotions. It was really sad to think how the victims’ families are feeling after the death of their loved ones. The scene that stuck with me was when Michael was getting executed near the end. I could kind of see why he acted so nonchalant during that scene and before because I mean he was about to die and he knew he was about to die so he probably just had an “oh well” attitude since he knew his life was over. At the same time, it was sad to see that he showed no remorse at all.
ReplyDelete2. “Abyss” is a deep hole. I think the name of this film was a metaphor for that because Michael was sentenced to death and Jason was sentenced to life. They had to live the rest of their lives in this hole (prison) without leaving.
3. I feel like this film definitely opened my eyes more about the death penalty. I definitely don’t think Michael or anyone else who had that punishment deserves it. Even for a really bad crime like this one, I don’t think killing yet another person is a way to solve the problem or seek justice.
I thought this film was very interesting, showing the stories of not only the victims, but the perpetrators. I wish the movie discussed more of the trial and provided more evidence, as it was weird viewing Perry and Burkett as murderers when they were saying they were innocent. I could not actually judge them properly due to no footage of them actually committing the crime. The scene that stuck with me the most was watching the recording of the execution table. It was important to me because that table is probably the most powerful thing in the world, as it holds the weight of life and death. It was scary looking at it from the screen and I can’t even imagine what it may feel like for Michael Perry. With that being said, I believe the death penalty is wrong and should be eradicated as a law in some states in America. I don’t believe in taking life for a life or “avenging” someone’s death by killing someone else. I also could not imagine what Lisa Stotler must have been feeling losing all of those people in her family. That part probably got me the most emotional. An abyss is like a bottomless pit and regarding this movie, I think this refers to death, how once you “fall” into death, there is no returning. This film affected my view on murderers prominently. When I hear of someone labeled as a murderer, I immediately think of an inhumane almost animal-like person, with no heart or sympathy. Hearing the stories of MIchael Perry and Jason Burkett made them more realistic and personal. At the end of the day, no matter how many crimes you commit, you are still a person with family and friends. Actions don’t necessarily make someone a bad person.
ReplyDelete1. Although this is slightly strange, my main reaction to the film was
ReplyDeletesympathy for Michael Perry. I cannot fully explain why this feeling of compassion was so prevalent, but Perry’s boyish nature could be a factor. In addition, Perry’s acceptance of death could have triggered sympathy and empathy. A scene that struck me was when a victim’s sister described Michael Perry’s execution. When reading his final statement I pictured him strapped to a gurney crying, which is an image I will never forget.
2. One reason the film is called “Into The Abyss” is because it explores the deep and bottomless pit of crimes that plague families and towns. That is—there is a never-ending stream of crimes committed, with each and every one having an enormous impact. Consequently, Werner Herzog decided to dive deeper into this pit and learn more about how criminal activity impacts society and individuals.
3. This film changed my opinion and views upon the criminal justice system and capital punishment. Although I considered myself anti-capital punishment before watching “Into The Abyss,” after viewing it I can confidently say this. First of all, it appalls me that the justice system will condemn murder with murder. This seems not only hypocritical, but inhumane. In my opinion, laws should have higher moral standards than criminals do. Additionally, I agree with Fred Lewis and others that capital punishment does nothing to bring back people who were killed, and to an extent does not console the victim’s family.
Into The Abyss was a sad, sad film. It was very watch, because of the blunt and harsh truths presented through multiple scenes. John warned us it wasn’t a light movie (not like any we watch are) , but wow. The crime scenes were gruesome, and the fallout of the murders were depressing for both sides. I think the testimonials stood out the most to me; the ones from Lisa and Charles by far. Charles’ interview really made me understand the pain and loss shown in the film, as I could relate to being an older brother with an extremely strong bond to my younger brother. It struck me really hard when he mentioned how he still told his wife “it was me and him against the world.” Through Lisa’s testimony, I felt intense hopelessness. She lost almost all of her family to murders, drugs, or accidental circumstances. She recalled how she did nothing for four years, and I probably would lose to the pain as much as she did, if not more. I believe the film’s title uses the term abyss as a dark and bottomless void. In this situation, the abyss would be the cycle of death cause by the pointless murders, meaning capital punishment or Perry and Jason’s acts. The film didn’t really force the director’s obvious opinion against capital punishment onto the audience. It stayed true to its documentary roots, and we got to see different, even opposing opinions on the matter. I was against capital murder from the start; now I am still against it, but for different reasons. At first it just seemed unfair to decide whether someone has the right to live or not, and I still think it’s up to debate. But now there’s also the fact that it doesn’t help anyone really, and prison for life seems a much harder punishment to endure through, so it makes more sense.
ReplyDeleteWatching into the abyss was a very sad movie. Thinking about these real life decisions people made and thinking about them getting killed is a lot. The fact that people would make such horrible decisions that will end them up getting killed is a lot to handle. I personally do not agree with the death penalty. People can cause very bad acts but I do not think that anyone should ever be killed for what they did. A moment that stuck with me was when Lisa was talking about how many people died for her within a 6 year span. That was very crazy to hear because I cant imagine going through all of that. I think it is called into the abyss because once those people are in life forever, they never are getting out...like an abyss. A deep bottomless hole. This did not change my view on the death penalty or murderers or any of that. these 2 men seemed like very messed up men and that they werent going to change anytime soon. It was very disturbing hearing micahel perry laugh when he knew he was going to die in 7 days. That was crazy to me because it made me feel like he was more insane and more of a "meant to be killer"
ReplyDeleteMan, this film was HARD TO WATCH. It was hard to stomach. It was hard not to look away. I mean jeez. Just the continuous death and depression that clouded every scene, and every person’s mind. Especially that poor woman who had pretty much everyone she loved, except immediate family, due in horrible ways. There was getting hit by a train, suicide due to cancer, getting murdered, and a drug overdose…. all in six years. That’s insane. The moment that stuck with me the most was when they showed the woman who got murdered body floating in the lake. I found it extremely unsettling and julting to watch the tangled up form of a body float in the water attached to all that bed sheet. You could clearly see her dirty flesh under throughout the sheets, it was nasty.
ReplyDeleteI believe it is called “Into the Abyss,” because it is talking about death, and how when you die, as well as when you know you are about to die, it seems as if your life is falling into a deep, never ending whole of emptiness. The thing that really made this film creepy was the emptiness everyone had that they interviewed, they all seemed hollow, like they were missing something vital.
The film definitely made me really realize how completely awful murder is. It made me ponder about how anyone could commit such an evil act, and how that the prisoners who were found guilty seemed genuine enough, in other terms, not bad people. It told me that bad people can do good things and good people can do bad things. Anyone is capable of anything. In terms of what I think about capital punishment, no, my view has not changed. I believe no one should be killed, no matter what they did. It’s that simple. Life is more valuable than ethics, or human decision, so don’t let either of those get in the way. If people can argue so hard to outlaw abortions, they can also argue to stop the death penalty. If you think about it, life in prison is probably worse anyways.
My reaction to the film is disturbance. I was not sure what particular aspect of the film was most disturbing and this left me with a sense of conflict and confusion. I think one of the most powerful scenes was the father in prison talking about his son’s and his own lives. I could hear and feel that fathers pain in his voice. The amount of regret he has seems unimaginable. His inability to describe the feeling he had on the prison bus was telling to the regret and pain in his life. He seemed to be one of the few incarcerated that really expressed regret and thought about what could have been.
ReplyDeleteAn abyss is a deep even bottomless space. I think the space eludes to the immeasurable amount of loss and emptiness felt in this film. When Perry is executed he has strong faith that he is going to heaven. Heaven could be called an abyss but nothingness could also be called an abyss. The victims families seem to be feeling the presence of an abyss,particularly emotionally. An abyss can also be defined as a profound difference between people. There is definitely a wide difference between the experiences of the victims and the perpetrators, while they are both experiencing some form of loss.
The young men in the film both come from brutal and seemingly hopeless environments. They both live in a town that shows little opportunity. However their reactions and interactions to this environment are quite different. Both lack role models and guidance but the young men commit crimes out of selfishness while George comited crimes out of a desire to provide for others. George was not impulsive and violent in the way these boys were and George was able to find an escape.
This was a very hard movie for me to watch. So many parts of it were so difficult for me to comprehend and it's scary for me to understand that this is actually real life. While I was watching this, part of me wanted to pretend that it was all an act and that it was scripted but I knew that what I was watching was really somebody's life. As far as Michael goes, I could never imagine knowing my death date and how I was going to die at the same time. I feel like as humans, we always feel like were in mortal because death is something that we always disassociate from. We act like we're never going to die because really we know nothing about the feeling of death is like. I feel like if I knew when I was going to die and how I was going to do it I wouldn't be able to function, because I think that that is something that humans are not supposed to know. I think it's called into the abyss because there are endless effects of what happened that day. It's like there's never going to be a resolution that makes everyone happy. The side effects of the three murders are constantly present and never ending, like an abyss. I'm not really sure how I felt about the death penalty and murder to start with quite honestly. I know that it something that I tend to feel uncomfortable with because I feel like it isn't fair for someone to be sentenced to death, but it's also not fair for somebody to not have equal punishment for a murder. In a weird way, I almost feel more confused. I don't think that I agree with the death penalty, because I feel like it was so hard to get to know these boys and have one of them die in the end. It's not like I agree with what they did, or like I sympathize with them. I just feel like no matter what a human is a human and they should have the rights to life. I think that's where it can get confusing though. Like part of me feels like if they took someone's life, shouldn't it only be fair for theirs to be taken right back? I feel like even after watching this there are so many aspects of the death penalty that are foggy for me.
ReplyDeleteMy firs blog entry got deleted, but I’ll try to summarize everything that I said in it.
ReplyDeleteI was very surprised with the way that Perry was acting. It seemed to me that he was aging in reverse on death row, so he went in at 18 and ten years later he’s 8. He reminded me a lot of my ten year old cousin. I hope that some psychologists have done studies on the effects that knowing when and how you’ll die have on your brain. I also thought that the scene where the camera was panning through the Huntsville death house was very powerful. If you’ve ever been to like a battleground or something there’s like this feeling of death hanging over the area, and I got those kinds of vibes from the death house.
Abyss was defined as an immeasurably deep hole or void, and I think that “into the abyss” means death. I think it works well especially in this case because the inmates who are on death row can see the abyss approaching, but once they’re in the hole they’re gone.
I think that this movie did a very good job at accomplishing it’s goal. I came into the movie thinking that some people deserve the death penalty, and I still believe that school shooters and terrorists deserve the death penalty. This movie made me much more anti death penalty. The death penalty doesn’t actually discourage homicide. I do think it's worth noting that in countries like Saudi Arabia, that have extremely strict laws, and public executions, the crime rates for anything punishable by death are extremly low. Public executions, however in humane they might be, actually work. In Singapore you can be put to death for homosexuality, which is basically like putting someone to death for being left handed, it's so stupid.