Lake of Fire
ThinkFilm, 152mins, NR
5 STARS
A Documentary
by Tony Kaye

The title refers to a biblical reference to Hell. The sinners of the world would be sent to burn in the” lake of fire,” and the sin in question is killing of unborn babies. We see the babies being killed and everything.

This is an epic film and a grisly one, to boot. At just short of three hours, this is definitive as one can get. Kaye is even handed to a fault, letting the likes of Noam Chomsky and Randall Terry their say, showing protests from both sides, and graphic descriptions of the murders of doctors. Then there are the body parts of those dead babies, extracted from their mothers and pieced together to make sure that the doctors didn't leave anything inside.

It's enough to make you puke.

The lefties seem reasonable in the interviews and righties seem like morons and religious fanatics. Then again, there's the visuals, showing those tiny little body parts in metal dishes and in refrigerators. The question is when does life begin, and it's harder to get to a moral definition than it seems.

The film was mostly shot during the '90s, before Kaye directed “American History X” and went bankrupt in the ensuing lawsuit. This means that the people being protested are the Clintons, and we follow the case of Paul Hill, who starts the film out as the sane spokesman for the “pro-life” movement, then we see him protesting an abortion clinic 24 hours a day, then, off screen, shooting said doctor, and then the trial, and ten years later his execution. The reportage for that one is done at least ten years later than most of the rest of the film.

One can understand why this would probably be rated NC-17 if it had been submitted to the ratings board. Regardless, this is a film that has to be seen to understand why abortion is such a divisive issue, and why it has been thus for so long.

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