nick_gen Tony Kaye shows that he is prepared to encounter the debate on abortion by covering an incredibly wide range of point of views and doesn't leave out even the most difficult parts. I will start with "harcore" reality details of the abortive presager before I entail my global feelings on how I received this workpiece. I had to stop viewing for a couple of minutes after they showed the fetuses, my heart was pounding, I felt dizzy, sad and mentally assaulted by those images because they just wouldn't get out of my head once I saw them. Nonetheless I still am pro-choice having being hit by that, It forced me to consider the painful reality that go with my own position. This, of course balanced with so many other things that are also thoroughly explored and exposed in the documentary.Calling Tony Kaye a "biaest" on that matter doesn't do him justice at all. Simply because neutrality in this just has no existence, the relevant material that piles up in the concerned matter as you go further into it, is bound to lead you somewhere. If their is something going on around you and choose not to implicate yourself, you are in fact indirectly making a choice, the choice of leaving it in the hands of those who are ready to carry out decision. I'm not a Christian but I was raised in that manner so I can refer to a story which most of us know and that is the story of Pilate who also took a step back but nonetheless is a part of the picture, that nails down the point that "not to do" is to "let others do" for the best and for worst parts.This documentary also shows the mind blowing contradictions that inhabits the fundamentalists stirring up on the pro-life side. The fact that they are ready to take on destructive action on the behalf of their posture, stretching a huge focus on that subject while seemingly indifferent to other subjects that involves human choices and it's caused suffering that are by close or by far correlative to abortion. I'll finish by saying that having claims towards even the most wonderful values doesn't suffice at all, being unable to reflect on your own self and the actions you undertake and paying no attention to the conditions of others and more importantly the ones that should justify some of your moral standards is one of the roots of a hypocrisy, denial and egocentric behaviors.

revsolly I fell upon this "documentary" strictly by accident. I wasn't too surprised that the work, which was supposed to show the abortion debate from "both sides", was decidedly slanted to the pro-abortion end of it.Except for the wonderful story of how Minister Flip Benham, & his child, were used by God to bring Norma McCorvey out of her misery into hope, this film seemed to be fixated with the murders of 3 abortionists by fringe people who had affiliated themselves with the pro-life movement. As just 1 example, it doesn't even mention that John Salvi not only shot the people in the abortion mill, but also threatened the pro-lifers outside. However, we did get a wonderful reading of a scripted dissertation by the guard who exchanged fire with Salvi.When going back & forth between the 2 sides, I noticed that the film maker continued to use lettered-people (professors & such) for the pro-abortion side, but failed to reciprocate for the pro-life side. Legitimate source such as Dr. Bernard Nathanson, former abortionist & partner of abortionist Bill Baird, was nowhere to be found to counterpoint Baird's presentation & to address the false assertion of the numbers of women who allegedly died due to using coat hangers to abort. Nathanson was a founding member of the North American Abortion Rights Action League (NAARAL), which is now the National Abortion Rights Action League(NARAL). He could have recounted how those figures were pulled out of thin air by the NAARAL group.To be balanced, they could have shown at least one of the numerous families who have multiple adopted children, adopted with no regard as to culture (race). Instead many of the "pro-choice" side were allowed to continue with the canard that pro-lifers only cared about white children & didn't care about children at all after their birth. My wife & I would have gladly interviewed for this segment. Or, I could have put them in touch with at least 1/2 dozen other families who have done as we have done. That would have been presenting both sides.I can only say that, as it was alleged that this would show both sides, I must assume that there will be a part 2, as this part didn't live up to the hype.

brumps The only thing important missing from the film is the impact that overturning Roe v Wade might have on the infertility industry. My husband and I had to resort to in vitro in order to conceive our twin boys. Four fertilized eggs were implanted in me. Fortunately, only two remained viable. But what if all four survived? I would have chosen to "reduce" the embryos. As it was my pregnancy was difficult. I went into pre-term labor at 28 weeks. At 32 weeks they had to induce as my babies were starting to kill me. Imagine if I hadn't had the option to "reduce" and all four implanted. What if the law required me to carry the fetuses until my life was in danger instead of "reducing" early in the pregnancy? Or, what if I had 14 embryos, 4 implanted and 10 frozen? Would the frozen ones then be considered "alive" and therefore could not be discarted? What would be the option then? Would I be prosecuted for 10 counts of murder? So I think the film needed to cover this aspect of the debate. Otherwise it was an exceptional documentary.

Witty_Kibitzer Lake Of Fire was stunning! This film literally took my breath away and left me feeling physically ill. I can easily see why it took Tony Kaye fifteen years to complete it. Filmed in stark black and white, this documentary about abortion is almost entirely made up of direct shots that do not suggest any bias on the director's part and it is never clear which side of the fence he falls on in this debate. It does, however, illustrate what can be wrong with either being pro-life or pro-choice. This film enraged me, sickened me, scared me, and even made me tear up a little bit. Really all it left me with was this feeling that any choice regarding the abortion issue would be "wrong" in some way instead of everyone being "right", as one of the speakers (Alan Dershowitz, Professor of Criminal Law at Harvard University) so eloquently put it. I have always considered myself to be pro-choice, although I have never believed that abortion was an option for me. This film highlighted many of the reasons why I feel this way, both that I feel that modern women need to have the right to choose and that I feel that abortion is in many cases horrific, and should not be taken lightly. On a purely visual level; the shots were flawless, the color choice (or lack of a use of color) was enthralling, and the editing flowed seamlessly back and forth between two sides of an issue that heeds extreme opinions on both ends. I found this to make for a very taut viewing experience. Just as you were digesting a scene from a Leftist point-of-view, the focus would shift to a speaker or compelling event from the right. It wouldn't surprise me if this were deliberate, as it made it hard for me to connect with the statements being made and forced me to pile every argument on top of another in my mind. I was elated that Kaye chose to close the film with a woman's emotional response after her abortion procedure. It very clearly illustrated that women are not just running out to get abortions on a whim, that they are difficult and painful decisions even for women that know without a doubt that they are making the best choice for themselves.