Tony Kaye Shocking Images in Abortion Documentary "Lake of Fire"
By Lynda Johnson
Oct 12, 2007
British filmmaker Tony Kaye shocks with images in an abortion documentary titled "Lake of Fire." The film is a stunner by all accounts. Every review has been magnificent and gushing for the 152 minute film. "From the moment I started making the film I thought I have to show an abortion, which at the time had never been done before," Kaye, best known for his 1998 neo-Nazi feature "American History X," told AFP in an interview.
Tony Kaye Shocking Images in Abortion Documentary "Lake of Fire"
"There was no question about whether or not that was the right thing to do because if I'm documenting two sides of the argument, that is one side of the argument and you have to show it," he said.
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The graphic and disturbing depiction of termination procedures, filmed like the rest of the movie in black and white, that marks the film out. One scene depicts a doctor sifting through a surgical tray after performing a late-term abortion, where the grisly residue of an arm, a foot and part of a face can be clearly made out.
"It's about as shocking as any motion picture can ever get. It's illegal to film someone being killed," said Kaye. Manohla Dargis of the New York Times writes, One lesson of Lake of Fire is the galvanizing power of the visual image. Sometimes a picture is worth a thousand words, and sometimes pictures are not enough."
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Leslie Felperin of Variety writes: "A personal, self-financed project by British helmer Tony Kaye, "Lake of Fire" reps an extraordinary docu achievement. Handsomely filmed on silvery 35mm and high-definition by Kaye himself, the shrewdly edited pic balances a full spectrum of views from all sides of the abortion debate without obviously taking a position itself. Blending ethical philosophy, human drama and disturbing images of dismembered fetuses, pic compels auds to reassess their own feelings about this contentious issue."
"Fire" generated hot buyer interest in Toronto, but the cut caught may not be final, per helmer, and the material may next emerge as part of a longer TV series."
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"Lake of Fire," currently on limited release in the United States.
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