MovieChat Forums > Into the Abyss (2012) Discussion > I'm not a mean person. I'm really not.

I'm not a mean person. I'm really not.

posted 11 years ago by scrapmetal7
5 replies | jump to latest

I'm not a mean person. I don't find amusement in other peoples' suffering.
BUT.
When the woman said her father passed away because he was hit by a train, along with her brother, and then she muttered, "as well as the family dog..." I seriously had to wonder if this documentary, with people being stabbed in the chest with screwdrivers at cookouts and teens telling people they had a used camaro because they "held hands and bought a lottery ticket", a teen being evicted from his home (which was the trunk of his girlfriend's car), and the girl who smuggled her husbands semen out of prison to make a miracle baby, the same husband she knew was her destiny because of a rainbow she saw once, I started to wonder if this whole thing were a practical joke, like INCIDENT AT LOCH NESS.

[–] tzarenvy 11 years ago

i always think he's schadenfreudering his german head off at his subjects

have you seen 'encounters at the end of the world'?

there's a scene where he films all the scientists with buckets on their heads monging about on a safety course, one where the scientists are lying in the snow listening to the sounds beneath the ice, a protracted shot of a red indian fella after the interview finished until he feels awkward and babbles a bit - in a film ostensibly about nature and landscapes of the south pole

in fact he used that protracted shot all the way through 'into the abyss' and 'grizzly man' - he kind of forces the subject to show their hand with the protracted shot after the questions have finished

'even dwarfs started small' (not a doc) has a scene with a dwarf standing next to a camel just staring at camera contriving hoarse laughter until he has a coughing fit, its the exact same shot and motive behind it as in the docs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aJuaZKBABO0

piss taker / genuine eccentric / subversive enquirer

[–] scrapmetal7 11 years ago

The commentary for "Even Dwarves Started Small" is probably my favorite commentary track ever :)

[–] SteveResin 11 years ago

Yeah, Werner definately finds a lot of dark humour in his subjects. Grizzly man being a perfect example.

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Duty Now For The Future

[–] ktowny 11 years ago

You obviously have not seen the Wild and Wonderful Whites of West Virginia. If you want to see people hell-bent on destruction, its well worth checking out.

Love's turned to lust and blood's turned to dust in my heart.

[–] puirt-a-beul 8 years ago

Thanks for your post, scrapmetal. ;-)

I have to confess, I burst out laughing at that moment, when she added the dog to the list. And then went on to detail the other members of her family who'd come to grief. Her timing was absolutely perfect, if it had been a parody skit. And even though she was telling the truth, I still had to laugh.

And I say that in the context of thinking how impressive she was in the documentary. She seems to have a good and sensible head on her shoulders, and all her comments seemed honest and not in the slightest hystrionic or self-pitying. Still, I laughd. Does that make me a mean person? I hope not.

You might very well think that. I couldn't possibly comment.