Lessons of Darkness Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		3.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		0.0
Overall		3.5

Lessons of Darkness Blu-ray Movie Review

If Werner Herzog is the teacher, it's gotta be a superfun class!

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman July 20, 2014

Note: This title is currently available as part of Herzog: The Collection.

Has there ever been a more fascinating figure in film than Werner Herzog? This much debated individual, one who elicits both hyperbolic accolades and equally exaggerated derision, has been a seeming force of nature in film for decades, helping to define the New German Cinema (a somewhat later analog to the French New Wave). Herzog’s filmography is rather breathtakingly diverse, traversing both traditional fiction, quasi-biographies, and a large number of documentaries. Through it all, Herzog himself has become the subject of considerable controversy, at times seeming to be as obsessively motivated as some of his film subjects. The auteur’s off kilter blend of nihilism and often black humor has given him and his films a decidedly unique place in contemporary media, to the point that a supposed note Herzog jotted off to his cleaning lady became an internet sensation (it’s actually a brilliantly written parody by Dale Shaw). Shout! Factory, a label which repeatedly stubbed its corporate toe on its last big deluxe boxed set built around the talents of one person (Bruce Lee: The Legacy Collection, the only time in my reviewing career I have had to start over from scratch due to a complete recall and reissue) may seem to be throwing caution to the wind by upping the ante with this release. Here there are no fewer than 16 films by Herzog, housed in a handsome hardback booklike case that also features a wealth of text and information about each of the films. Fifteen of the films are new to Blu-ray (Shout's horror imprint Scream Factory released Herzog's Nosferatu the Vampyre as a standalone a few months ago), and the offerings here cover both iconic films in Herzog's oeuvre as well as some oddities. The extremely handsome packaging offers a 7.5" x 7.5" x 1.5" hardback book exterior casing which houses heavy cardstock pocket holders that contain the discs. Also included are The Werner Herzog Condition by Stephen J. Smith, an appreciation of the director's work with essays about each of the films. The films get even more text in write-ups by Chris Wahl and Brad Prager. Each of the pocket holder pages details the film (or in some cases, films) on each disc, with audio options and special features listed.

Would a simple prescription for antidepressants have robbed the film world of one of its abiding prophets of impending apocalypse? Werner Herzog is not exactly known for being bright and cheerful, though there’s also no denying many of his films are infused with a rather trenchant sense of humor. There isn’t a laugh to be found in the appropriately gloomily titled Lessons of Darkness, a film which begins with a doomsday quote supposedly from Blaise Pascal and then spends the next hour (give or take) making sure that the viewer takes that quote to heart.

Filled with the same kind of haunting desert landscapes that have informed both other documentaries by Herzog (Fata Morgana) as well as some of his fictional films (Where the Green Ants Dream), Lessons of Darkness is Herzog at his most fascinatingly abstract, even as he explores a very concrete subject, the aftermath of the first Gulf War. The film is filled with apocalyptic imagery of well fires and other scenes of devastation, interspersed with a few interview sequences that are almost totally devoid of context, if not of the horror and battle brings to innocent civilians.

Herzog toys with a science fiction angle here which may remind some of his original concept for what ultimately became Fata Morgana. Virtually everything here seems alien, whether it be the fire and brimstone environment or some of the weirdly clad workers attempting to bring the conflagration under control. Except in just a couple of up close moments in the interview sequences, Herzog often stays above the fray, literally as the film employs a wide range of aerial shots which suggest a divine distance from the madness of Mankind. Herzog has evidently learned something from the God he insists is “against all” (in his original title for The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser): it’s easier to observe the folly is you don’t get too closely involved.

Lessons of Darkness Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Lessons of Darkness features an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.78:1. Shot under stressful conditions in Super 16, the transfer here does offer abundant grain typical of the this format, but it is also hobbled by recurrent compression artifacts, something that's especially noticeable in some shots where the 16mm footage has been blown up. Grain structure is highly variable, though, and the brief interview segments have an almost video-like appearance, with virtually no grain in evidence. Colors are richly saturated, with some impressive gradations from grays to blacks, as huge plumes of multicolored smoke pours over the desert floor. Reds and oranges are also especially vivid. A lot of the footage is fairly soft looking, as befits the format, but the close-ups during the interview sequences offer quite striking fine detail.

Lessons of Darkness Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Leave it to Werner Herzog to fill a documentary with apocalyptic visions of the end of the world (or at least part of the world) with beautiful classical music from a variety of iconic composers. There's really not a lot of verbal action here, other than some brief narration and the equally brief interview segments. Otherwise, this is a documentary filled with ambient environmental effects and the anachronistic source cues, all of which sound just fine in DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 .

Lessons of Darkness Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

There are no supplements associated with this film, which shares a disc with Little Dieter Needs to Fly.

Lessons of Darkness Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Lessons of Darkness is a kind of dissociative experience, but intentionally so. Herzog doesn't want an emotional reaction here, at least not initially. He wants to lure the intellect first, delivering an equal amount of consternation and fascination, and it's only then that the director seems to suggest an aghast reaction is necessary. While discursive on its face, Lessons of Darkness is one of Herzog's more pointed examinations of the stupidity of men. Technical merits here are very good to excellent, and Lessons of Darkness comes Recommended.