A great abortion documentary might leave you guessing which side of the debate the director was on. “Lake of Fire” is not that film, but it comes somewhat close.
Shot in stark black and white, this sprawling, messy, frustrating, riveting look at the abortion wars focuses heavily on a few violent attacks on abortion clinics in the 1990s. It tends to make the anti-abortion crowd look like guns ‘n’ Bibles extremists who are an inch away from murder at all times.
That’s dishonest and sensationalist of director Tony Kaye (“American History X”), who has been assembling this film for 15 years. But unlike most documentarians, Kaye doesn’t depend on a bland array of professors and journalists. He’s right there with true believers – such as a woman who was nearly killed in a clinic bombing, and crazy-eyed clergymen.
There’s an interview with a doctor who performs abortions after arriving at work in a bulletproof vest – and photos of his bullet-riddled corpse after he is assassinated. Crime-scene footage of a Brookline, Mass. clinic that was the scene of a murderous attack comes complete with a video of the nutcase perp’s statement afterward: “If the pope says jump, the Catholic people should jump.”
But hang on. Here’s an interview with Nat Hentoff, the civil liberties defender, who makes the case against abortion. And the two most memorable portions of the film are powerful propaganda for pro-lifers. The scenes of shredded bloody fetuses at a clinic contain some of the most shocking, revolting footage I’ve ever seen.
Kaye soberly covers Roe v. Wade from its conception in a law office to the way it birthed a great big twist: “Jane Roe,” Norma McCorvey, signed on with Jesus after a pro-life group bought the house next door and swarmed her with niceness.
She tells a haunting story of her Damascene conversion upon looking into a fridge full of ripped-up fetuses: “They were babies, man. And it hurt me. It hurt me to think I was responsible for all these dead babies.”
The film opens itself up to criticism on feminist grounds; three-quarters of the interviewees seem to be men.
While Kaye portrays nearly all abortion defenders as eloquent and reasonable, he doesn’t seem to notice how often these activists change the subject to things no reasonable person supports, such as racism and gay bashing. He also has it exactly backward when he slips in the notion that it’s hypocritical to be pro-capital punishment but anti-abortion. No. A fetus is innocent; Jeffrey Dahmer wasn’t.
Concluding with the depressing story of one anguished woman’s abortion (shown in harrowing, gynecological detail), Kaye leaves us with compassion for her and a fervent wish for more common ground. His film does nothing to advance the debate but does a great deal to show us what’s at stake.
LAKE OF FIRE
Gives off heat.
Not rated (extremely graphic abortion images). Running time: 152 minutes. At the Film Forum, Houston between Sixth Avenue and Varick Street.