Death in Texas

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Movie
German title Death in Texas
Original title Into the Abyss
Country of production USA ,
UK ,
Germany
original language English
Publishing year 2011
length 107 minutes
Age rating FSK unchecked
Rod
Director Werner Herzog
script Werner Herzog
production Erik Nelson
music Mark De Gli Antoni
camera Peter Zeitlinger
cut Joe Bini
occupation
  • Werner Herzog: himself
  • Michael Perry: himself
  • Jason Burkett: himself

Death in Texas is a 2011 documentary directed by Werner Herzog .

action

At the center of the film are the convicted murderers Michael Perry, who is about to face the death penalty - he was executed on July 1, 2010 - and his accomplice Jason Burkett, who is serving a life sentence. Herzog reconstructs the murders that led to the convictions, showing the guilty and justifications of the perpetrators; he describes their life stories and milieus in interviews with their families and partners, but also those of the victims and their survivors. Conversations with police officers and a prison minister reveal a picture of the US judicial system and the realities of the death penalty.

background

Herzog wanted to make a film about Straubing correctional facility when he was 17 , but never carried out the idea. Death in Texas eventually came about with funding from US cable station Investigation Discovery . Originally, Herzog had wanted to cover the cases of five death row inmates in Texas and Florida in the film, but then focused entirely on Perry. From the remaining material, the TV miniseries On Death Row was created .

publication

Although the film was traded as a political documentary when it premiered at the 2011 Toronto International Film Festival , Herzog denied political intent. In his opinion, he did not make a film against the death penalty, even if he rejects it. His focus is actually a different one.

Nevertheless, the US premiere was already set for November of that year by the distributor, also in Herzog's avowed sense, in order to show the film during the societal death penalty debate that was taking place at that time, which was based on the controversy surrounding the execution of Troy Davis and cheered for Rick Perry's death penalty record in the Republican presidential primary election.

reception

Death in Texas received positive criticism. In December 2011, the website Metacritic calculated a score of 74 out of 100 based on 27 reviews. The prominent US critic Roger Ebert named the film the third best documentary of 2011 and also included it in his selection the following year.

Awards

Web links