MIFF 2016 - Day 17
A War
Claus is the commander at a base in Afghanistan, his wife and three children are back home. When one of his men dies in an IED attack, he starts going out on patrol with the men to try and calm and reassure them. Then they get caught in a firefight with the Taliban, one of his men is wounded, and he makes a call to bomb the compound. 11 civilians are killed, and he's brought up on charges of violating the rules of engagement. This isn't a film about right and wrong, so much as it's about the morally grey areas where there are no good decisions, and no simple answers. It doesn't just look at the war situation, but also the family, and the costs there. In the end, it's rough, uncomfortable, and might leave you angry.
Lo and Behold: Reveries of the Connected World
Going for breadth rather than depth, Werner Herzog turns his eye towards the Internet, and the many things it has brought us. He looks at the birth of it, the first word ever sent being "Lo", as it crashed before it could complete the word log. He also looks at online harassment, internet addiction, artificial intelligence, gets distracted by space exploration, visits some people who are allergic to cell tower radiation, and looks at hacking and cyber-security. It would be a lie to call it a good documentary, it never dives into any of its subjects enough to warrant that, but it's fun to see Herzog muse on the many implications of modern technology and calmly render snarky judgement on them.
Claus is the commander at a base in Afghanistan, his wife and three children are back home. When one of his men dies in an IED attack, he starts going out on patrol with the men to try and calm and reassure them. Then they get caught in a firefight with the Taliban, one of his men is wounded, and he makes a call to bomb the compound. 11 civilians are killed, and he's brought up on charges of violating the rules of engagement. This isn't a film about right and wrong, so much as it's about the morally grey areas where there are no good decisions, and no simple answers. It doesn't just look at the war situation, but also the family, and the costs there. In the end, it's rough, uncomfortable, and might leave you angry.
Lo and Behold: Reveries of the Connected World
Going for breadth rather than depth, Werner Herzog turns his eye towards the Internet, and the many things it has brought us. He looks at the birth of it, the first word ever sent being "Lo", as it crashed before it could complete the word log. He also looks at online harassment, internet addiction, artificial intelligence, gets distracted by space exploration, visits some people who are allergic to cell tower radiation, and looks at hacking and cyber-security. It would be a lie to call it a good documentary, it never dives into any of its subjects enough to warrant that, but it's fun to see Herzog muse on the many implications of modern technology and calmly render snarky judgement on them.
posted by Andrew Lee at 10:53 PM
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