Lake of Fire (2006)

 

 

 

Lake of Fire is a documentary film which premiered in 2006. The topic is the history of abortion in the US; a topic which can raise strong feelings one way or the other in the US.

 

Here is some basic information about it:

 

** Writer, producer and director: Tony Kaye

** Editor: Peter Goddard

** Run time: 152 minutes

 

This film was shot in black-and-white over a period of more than fifteen years. British filmmaker Tony Kaye spent six million US dollars of his own money on this project.

 

Several persons are interviewed in this film. Their names are listed in alphabetical order. Some are pro-choice, while others are pro-life. If you want to know who is pro-choice and who is pro-life, you can Google the names or you can watch the film and listen to what each of them have to say.

 

** Bill Baird - activist

** Philip “Flip” Benham - Operation Rescue

** Dallas Blanchard – Professor of Sociology, University of West Florida

** Pat Buchanan – Republican presidential candidate

 

** John Burt – activist

** Andrew Cabot – activist

** Noam Chomsky – Professor of Linguistics, MIT

** Frederick Clarkson – author

 

** Alan Dershowitz – Professor of Law, Harvard University

** Kevin Fitzpatrick – Professor of Sociology, University of Alabama

** Mary Lou Greenberg – activist, writer

** David Gunn Junior – son of Dr David Gunn who was killed by an anti-abortion activist in March 1993

 

** Nat Hentoff – author

** Allan Keyes – Republican presidential candidate

** Francis Kissling – Catholics for Free Choice

** Emily Lions – a nurse, victim of a bomb attack in 1998

 

** Pat Mahoney – Christian Defense Coalition

** Cardinal Roger Mahoney – Archbishop of Los Angeles

** Norma McCorvey – plaintiff in Jane Roe vs. Wade

** Kate Michelman – National Abortion Rights Action League

 

** Ellen Moskowitz – lawyer

** Jerry Reiter – author

** Peter Singer – Professor of Bio-ethics, antoffdddddddgggggggggddjjjjjPrinceton University

** Bonnie Steinbock – Professor of Philosophy, University of Albany

 

** Randall Terry – Operation Rescue

** David Trosch – Life Enterprises Unlimited

** Sarah Weddington – one of two lawyers who took the case Jane Roe vs. Wade all the way to the US Supreme Court

 

** Father Norman Westlin – The Lambs of Christ

** Jeff White – Operation Rescue, California

** Michele Wilson – Professor of Sociology, University of Alabama

 

Archive footage is used to supplement the statements made in interviews. For instance:

 

# 1. Clips of a speech which is given in public

# 2. Clips from a trial which is recorded on television

# 3. Clips from television news reports

 

In this film, both sides have a chance to present their point of view. The director has interviewed people who support pro-choice and people who support pro-life. This film is not one-sided. It is balanced. In fact, it is so balanced that you may have a hard time deciding where the director himself stands on this issue.

 

Perhaps this is because the director is in conflict with himself. He made this film hoping to find some clarity on this issue. In his mind, he is pro-choice; in his heart, he is pro-life. Both sides have a good case. It is not easy to decide who is right.

 

What about the title? Why did the director choose this title? What does it mean? The title seems to be inspired by two statements made by two persons. Let me explain:

 

(1) In the beginning of the film there is a clip with a man who supports pro-life. This man talks about what happens when we die. He believes we will be divided into two categories:

 

** If you have found God, you will go to Heaven. You will live forever in a beautiful paradise, and you will be with Jesus all the time. This is your reward

** If you have not found God, you will go to Hell. You will live forever in a horrible Lake of Fire. This is your punishment.

 

(2) Towards the end of the film there is a clip with a woman who supports pro-choice. This woman was the victim of a bomb-attack in 1998. She survived, but suffered serious injuries. In the clip she explains that she has been living in a Lake of Fire ever since the bomb-attack.

 

This film premiered in 2006, more than ten years ago. Since then, the American debate about abortion has continued with increasing intensity. Stereotypes are being developed:

 

Who is pro-life?

The typical pro-life person supports the Republican Party, supports the death penalty, supports a growing military budget and is against the introduction of universal health care. For this person, the Bible is regarded as the first and sometimes the only source of inspiration.

 

Who is pro-choice?

The typical pro-choice person supports the Democratic Party, is against the death penalty, is against a growing military budget and supports the introduction of universal healthcare. For this person, the Bible is not regarded as the first and only source of inspiration.

 

While stereotypes are simplifications, they are often based on a kernel of truth. The US population is increasingly divided. Abortion is an example of an issue which is causing deep and lasting divisions of American society.

 

What do reviewers say about this film? Here are the results of three review aggregators:

 

82 percent = IMDb

83 percent = Meta

91 percent = Rotten Tomatoes (the audience)

94 percent = Rotten Tomatoes (the critics)

 

The famous movie critic Roger Ebert (1942-2013) posted a review of this film in October 2007. He likes it, even though some parts of this “brave” film are, as he puts it, “virtually unwatchable.” He offers 3.5 of 4 stars, which is a rating of 88 percent. Here is a brief quote from his review:

 

“The film has been a life’s work for Kaye, a British citizen, now 55, who has been filming it on and off for 17 years. He shot in 35mm wide-screen, using black and white (color would be unbearable). At 152 minutes, his film doesn’t seem long, because at every moment something absorbing, disturbing, depressing or infuriating is happening.”

 

As you can see, the ratings are quite good. If you ask me, the numerous positive reviews are fully justified. I want to go all the way to the top with this product. I think it deserves a rating of five stars (100 percent).

 

A REFERENCE

The following item is available online: Ed Pilkington, “Right to choose? British filmmaker tackles the debate that divides US,” The Guardian, 23 October 2007.

 

FOUR FILMS WHICH FOCUS ON ABORTION

** After Tiller (2013)

** Reversing Roe (2018)

** Ask for Jane (2018)

** AKA Jane Roe (2020)

 

*****

 

 

 

Another poster for the film

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After Tiller (2013)

 

 

 

 

 

After Tiller is a documentary film which premiered in 2013. The topic is abortion in the US; a topic which can raise strong feelings one way or the other in the US.

 

The title refers to Dr George Tiller who performed abortions since 1973, when the US Supreme Court issued a ruling in the case called Roe vs. Wade, stating that abortion is a constitutional right and therefore legal in every US state.

 

Before long, Dr Tiller became a target of anti-abortion activists who conducted an aggressive and violent campaign against abortion clinics and their staff in several states:

 

** In 1986, they burned down his clinic, but he refused to stop his work.

** In 1993, they tried to kill him, but he survived, even though he was shot five times. Again, he refused to stop his work.

** In 2009, they tried to kill him again, and this time they succeeded.

 

This film opens with a brief statement made by Dr Tiller in 1993, after he survived the first attempt on his life. He explains that he is not going to stop his work, because he feels he is performing an important service to the public. Throughout the film he is seen and mentioned several times.

 

But this film is not about Tiller. As the title indicates, it is about the time and the situation after he was killed in 2009.

 

This film focuses on four doctors who knew Tiller; who worked with him for a while; and who want to continue the work that he was doing, even though they know that they are placing themselves in great danger when they are doing this.

 

Here is some basic information about this film:

 

** Directors: Martha Shane and Lana Wilson

** Writers: Martha Shane, Lana Wilson and Greg O’Toole

** Run time: 87 minutes

 

In this film we meet the four doctors plus two counselors and the mother of one of the four doctors. Here are the names:

 

** Dr LeRoy Carhart (born 1941) – Bellevue, Nebraska

** Dr Warren Hern (born 1938) – Boulder, Colorado

** Dr Susan Robinson – Albuquerque, New Mexico

** Dr Shelley Sella – Albuquerque, New Mexico

** Susan (no last name given) – counselor

** Sue (no last name given) – counselor

** Edna Hern (1917-2013) – Dr Hern’s mother

 

Archive footage is used to supplement the information which is given during interviews.

 

In some scenes, a doctor will address the camera directly and talk about his or her experiences in this line of work. They will talk about the aggressive and violent methods which anti-abortion activists are using against them.

 

In other scenes, we see the doctor in conversation with a patient. While we can hear the conversation and see the doctor, we can never see the patient. It is important to protect the identity of the patient.

 

Most abortions are performed during the first trimester (months 1, 2 and 3). A few abortions are performed during the second trimester (months 4, 5 and 6). A very small number of abortions is performed during the third trimester (months 7, 8 and 9).

 

The number of abortions performed during the third trimester is only around one percent of the total number. These abortions are performed for medical reasons, for instance when some danger to the unborn child or the mother or both is discovered during the final months or weeks of the pregnancy.

 

Anti-abortion activists will often focus on this category (which is only around one percent of the total number) and pretend that all abortions are like this. They do this in order to prove that abortion is a sin and a crime and that it must be stopped.

 

Anti-abortion activists call themselves Pro-Life. They say they care about life; they say they care about the unborn child. They say this unborn child must be allowed to be born, no matter what the circumstances are.

 

What happens when the unborn child is born? How much care and concern does the Pro-Life campaign have for a newborn child and the parents of this child? Not much!

 

** Does the Pro-Life campaign support a long maternity and paternity leave for the parents? No, they do not.

** Does the Pro-Life campaign support a network of free or cheap kindergartens and day care centres? No, they do not.

** Does the Pro-Life campaign support a system of universal healthcare, so the life of every person in the US can be protected as much as possible from the beginning to the end? No, they do not.

 

Once the unborn child is born, the care and concern they have for life is gone; it has vanished into thin air!

 

In this film, there is no interview with an anti-Abortion activist. For this reason, it can be described as one-sided. But the directors of a documentary film do not have a duty to be neutral. They have a story they want to tell. They are allowed to tell the story any way they wish. They are allowed to take a stand.

 

Besides, the Pro-Life campaign is not exactly poor; it is not exactly powerless. The Pro-Life campaign has money and political connections. It has many ways to get its message out to the public. It is not necessary to give this movement a platform in every film that is made about abortion.

 

What do reviewers say about this film? Here are the results of three review aggregators:

 

74 percent = IMDb

75 percent = Meta

85 percent = Rotten tomatoes (the audience)

92 percent = Rotten Tomatoes (the critics)

 

On Amazon there are at the moment more than 90 ratings or reviews. The average rating is 4.2 stars.

 

As you can see, the ratings are quite good. If you ask me, the numerous positive reviews are fully justified. This film covers an important topic and it does this very well.

 

I want to go all the way to the top with this product. I think it deserves a rating of five stars (100 percent).

 

PS # 1. The Wikipedia entry about anti-abortion violence in the US offers a long list of examples. The topic is divided into four separate categories:

 

** Murder

** Attempted murder, assault and kidnapping

** Arson, bombing and property crime

** Anthrax threats

 

PS # 2. For more information, see the following items:

 

** Lake of Fire (2006)

** 12th & Delaware (2010)

** Vessel (2014)

** Ask for Jane (2018) – a docudrama based on a true story

** Reversing Roe (2018)

** AKA Jane Roe (2020)

 

*****

 

 

 Another poster for the film

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 Dr George Tiller (1941-2009)

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