War · Documentary · TV Movie
German (Lektionen in Finsternis)
1992 · Directed by Werner Herzog · 54 min
In 1991, as Kuwait's oil wells burned in the aftermath of the Gulf War, Werner Herzog flew over the devastated landscape with a small crew. The result is a 54-minute film in numbered chapters that treats real events as if they were scenes from another planet, with almost no explanation.
Why it matters in cinema history
A late, defining work of Herzog's career and a key film in the tradition of poetic documentary, in which non-fiction is shaped by an author's vision as much as by reportage.
Watch with intention
Watch it as a vision built from real images, and ask what the filmmaker has chosen to withhold as well as what he shows.
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