Lake of Fire (2006)

User Rating:

8.5/10   

Director:

Tony Kaye

Writer:

Tony Kaye (screenplay)

Genre:

Documentary

Plot:

A graphic documentary on both sides of the abortion debate. |

Plot Keywords:

Abortion | Protest Sign | Doctor | Protest | Religion

Awards:

3 nominations

Cast

Bill Baird	...	Himself
Flip Benham	...	Himself
Dallas Blanchard	...	Himself
Dr. John Britton	...	Himself
Pat Buchanan	...	Himself
Noam Chomsky	...	Himself
Frederick Clarkson	...	Himself
Alan M. Dershowitz	...	Himself (as Alan Dershowitz)
Michael F. Griffin	...	Himself
Nat Hentoff	...	Himself
Paul Hill	...	Himself (archive footage)
Roger Hunt	...	Himself
Frances Kissling	...	Herself
Douglas Kmiec	...	Himself (as Douglas Kmiec)
Emily Lyons	...	Herself
Norma McCorvey	...	Herself
John Salvi	...	Himself (archive footage)
Peter Singer	...	Himself
Randall Terry	...	Himself
Sarah Weddington	...	Herself

Runtime:

USA:152 min | Canada:152 min (Toronto International Film Festival)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Certification:

USA:Unrated | Canada:14A (Manitoba/Ontario) (DVD rating) | Canada:G (Quebec) (DVD rating)

Filming Locations:

Atlanta, Georgia, USA

Company:

Anonymous Content

Pro-lifers evidently don't understand bias

I saw a few people on here proclaiming themselves as pro-life and panning the film for supposedly being biased against their view.

First of all, purely on balance alone I'd say the film is equal to both sides. It's just that most of the stuff which makes you want to be pro-life comes at the beginning of the film while most of the content which makes you want to be pro-choice comes in the second half. It seems to me that they're just upset that their side didn't get the proverbial last word.

Secondly, this film is not about balance anyway. It's about documenting the cultural debate in the film about abortion in America. Whether one or two dissenting reviewers of this film are or not, the fact is that most of the pro-life advocates are Christian religious fringe. Of course there are exceptions, and they document that in the movie. Although I don't think Kaye should have given an hour to the secular atheist pro-lifers, because frankly there aren't that many of them.

The criticism also seem to come from people who don't even understand any points being made in the movie -- one reviewer claimed that Chomsky was comparing abortion to a woman washing her hands. That's not what he was doing at all. His example was made to demonstrate the relativity involved with the process of placing value on life.

In any event, the film definitely is a roller coaster ride, and there are times where you might find yourself at odds with your own opinion. The movie being as balanced as it is, probably wont change a lot of minds, but I would think at the very least it would soften your position one way or another. If it doesn't, you're either just stubborn, or you weren't even trying to pay attention to the message of the film.