Into the Cold Abyss

<p> Werner Herzog earned his reputation in '70s art house, but lately the German director has focused most of his attention on documenting strange aspects of the real world. <em>Into the Abyss</em> (out on DVD) investigates the senseless triple murder in Conroe, Texas that resulted in a life sentence for one convicted perpetrator, Jason Berkett, and the death sentence for another, Michael Perry. </p> <p>Herzog lays out his cards during his first on-camera prison interview with Perry: “I may not much like you but I don't believe human beings should be executed,” he tells the young man, oddly cheerful and almost puppy-like as he awaits the day of his lethal injection. <em>Into the Abyss</em> continually questions the morality of capital punishment (wouldn't Jesus oppose the death penalty? he asks one supporter) while walking viewers through the Death House. It also pursues the particular crimes of Perry and Berkett and casts its net over the decomposing society of a small Texas town where drugs, crime, unraveling families and even illiteracy fester in the trailer parks along with a belief in the miraculous. </p> <p><em>Into the Abyss</em> slips into the maudlin, a problem with several of Herzog's recent documents, and his investigation of the case turns up only police reports and the conflicting, “wasn't my fault” stories of Perry and Berkett. He's no Truman Capote plumbing the psyche of his subjects a la <em>In Cold Blood</em>. And yet, <em>Into the Abyss</em> is both instructive and unsettling in its unvarnished snapshots from a disadvantaged criminal underclass, its victims and avengers. Herzog's talent is in establishing a distant sort of intimacy with the people he interviews. In Texas, the German director behind <em>Nosferatu</em> is truly a stranger in a strange land and he takes good advantage of his role as the curious outsider. </p>