Lessons of Darkness

Lessons of Darkness (German: Lektionen in Finsternis) is a 1992 film by German director Werner Herzog. An effective companion to his earlier film Fata Morgana, Herzog again perceives the desert as a landscape with its own voice. Virtually devoid of commentary, the imagery concentrates on the aftermath of the first Gulf War - specifically on the Kuwaiti oil fires, although the film never mentions any relevant political or geographical information.... more

Lessons of Darkness (German: Lektionen in Finsternis) is a 1992 film by German director Werner Herzog. An effective companion to his earlier film Fata Morgana, Herzog again perceives the desert as a landscape with its own voice. Virtually devoid of commentary, the imagery concentrates on the aftermath of the first Gulf War - specifically on the Kuwaiti oil fires, although the film never mentions any relevant political or geographical information. Herzog uses truck-mounted shots as in Fata Morgana, static shots of the workers near the oil fires, and many helicopter shots of the bleak landscape. Herzog's sparse narration interprets the imagery out of its documentary context, and into a poetic fiction: the workers are described as "creatures" whose behavior is motivated by madness and a desire to perpetuate the damage that they are witnessing. A crucial "plot point" involves the workers, shortly after succeeding in stopping the fires, re-igniting the flow of oil. The narration asks, "Has... less