The most ambitious and likely to be the most influential film ever made on the politics of abortion...  Lake Of Fire, by film maker Tony Kaye, in the works for more than 15 years, was a hit at the Toronto film festival last fall, gaining strong, positive reviews... It sought to be an exceptionaly even-handed treatment of the subject. By everything I have, read so far, it looks like Kaye succeeded. A New York Times reviewer said: "it serves as a prime candidate for the definitive abortion documentary."

But beyond rave reviews, I think the film will be politically important. I think it will inform and shape -- and perhaps transform -- public conversation about the politics of abortion for years to come, as any work of such force and distributed on a wide scale can do. In exactly what ways it will change the discourse on abortion, I cannot predict. But the coming of the film is nevertheless worth noting as we enter the election season. Those pols and the consultantocracy who believe they will no longer have to talk about abortion, may find themselves quite mistaken....
The film spends a lot of time on an underdiscussed subject: violence against abortion providers. Interviewees include Emily Lyons, an Alabama nurse who was severely injured by a pipe bomb exploded at a clinic by Eric Rudolph , who was on the FBIs Most Wanted List for years in connection with the bombing of the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, as well as two clinics and a gay bar. Also interviewed is Paul Hill, who publicly advocated the notion that the murder of abortion providers is "justifiable homicide." Hill went on to murder a doctor and an escort himself, and was executed in Florida's electric chair for his crimes. The loose-but-nevertheless-criminal-and-theocratic revolutionary-underground-network is rarely discussed in one place, let alone in such a remarkable and prominent vehicle as this. (If you follow the above links to Eric Rudolph and Paul Hill, they may provide a preview of the things I was talking about in those days that may have made it into the film.)

Over the years anti-abortion terrorists have been responsible for murders and attempted murders, hundreds of bombings, arsons, and attempted arsons, and many hundreds more incidents of death and bomb threats acts of vandalism, intimidation, stalking and burglary. You don't hear about it much. But it is a story of domestic terrorism that is politically inconvenient for polititians who would rather deal with it out of the glare of publicity that is usually what they seek. Some would rather pretend that it does not exist.

Here is the festival blurb about the film:

A history of abortion rights in the United States, this remarkably balanced film examines one of the great divisive issues in this country.

Kaye's graphic black-and-white film is a perfect metaphor for the most polemic issue in America. The film is extremely comprehensive and shot in a confrontational, intimate style.

Kaye, who made the critically praised, provocative indie feature American History X, doesn't shy away from his subject or his subjects. Filmed in tight close-ups, individuals on both sides of the issue are given enough time to explain their beliefs. Some of the most compelling commentary comes from clinic workers who found themselves the victims of terrorist acts initiated by the religious right. It also presents Norma McCorvey, the real-life Jane Roe who has had a startling change of heart and now spends her time speaking out against abortion. Explicit in its material, the film contains a short anti-abortion propaganda film in which a young woman's ten-week-old fetus is aborted, as well as other graphic depictions of the procedure. Be warned that these scenes are quite disturbing, regardless of your feelings about the issue. Lake of Fire demonstrates how Roe v. Wade changed the lives of millions of American women. The tide, it appears, may be turning. This provocative film is sure to stir the fire within anyone who cares about human rights.

CAST & CREW

DIRECTOR: Tony Kaye

CAST: Alan Dershowitz, Bill Baird, Dallas Blanchard, Frances Kissling, Frederick Clarkson, Michael Griffin, Nat Hentoff, Noam Chomsky, Norma McCorvey, Paul Hill, Peter Singer, Randall Terry

PRODUCER: Tony Kaye

cinematographer: Tony Kaye

editor: Peter Goddard

PRINT SOURCE:  THINKFilm