From One Second to the Next (2013)

Just what I expected

Best movie of this year hands down!

The acting in this movie is really good.

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

This is an excellent short form documentary. Werner Herzog is a bit of a character and you never know what his movies are all different* so I always try to catch his stuff. But what I really want to know is why he made this one. My theory is that Herzog got caught in California text messaging while driving a couple times and the judge made him do a movie about it instead of community service. If anybody knows, please PM me.9/10*Herzog makes documentaries, feature films, and even acts in other people's movies.

This is a 2013 documentary short film by German director Werner Herzog. Back in the 1960s and 1970s, he actually made a couple short films, so this was a bit of back to the roots for him now at the age of 70. This film is about car accident, more specifically those who happen because one of the victims is on the phone texting. We hear a handful stories, each roughly seven minutes by relatives of dead people, people who got severely injured and their family, but also by people who texted during driving and caused a car crash this way. No matter which side you're on, the one texting or an innocent victim, this will crucially change your life for the worse. You will die. You will have severe injuries. Or you will just have to live with the guilt, let alone the legal consequences you are about to face. These are all very sad examples of what could happen. The saddest in my opinion was the one with the woman who got severely injured and her dog got killed. She lived, but she will be disabled for the rest of her life and the girl who is responsibly got away with hardly no punishment at all. She did not appear in front of a camera because her lawyer instructed her that way, but also she will have to live with the guilt. I don't know how famous this documentary would be without its director and I don't think there is a real Herzog touch of it like it is the case for most of the other films he made, but the message stays the same: Do not text and drive or you could lose all you have.

This relatively short film is about the consequences of texting and driving and a warning for viewers to not to do it. Herzog has considerable skill in interviewing and assembling the interviews in order to make a point or create a narrative. We can see his artistry here, but we're left wondering: what is it all about, really? Both victims and perpetrators of texting and driving accidents are interviewed. Of course it's what you'd expect: descriptions of the carnage, devastated families and offenders who have to live with guilt for the rest of their lives. These are the kind of scenes that are played out in any fatal accident, no matter what the cause. And except for the particular reason for driver distraction, in this case texting, they are generic to all bad accidents. This exercise in persuasion is powerful, moving, and pointless. Why? Because anyone dumb enough to text and drive wouldn't be watching a Werner Herzog film to get pointers on driver ed. Telling a person not to text and drive is like telling him not to stick his hand in a wood chipper while it's running. You don't warn people like that about the dangers of doing something anyone with half a brain would know from the start not to do, you don't let them drive in the first place.

If you have a phone and if you have a car then you have texted on that phone when you have been driving – for the vast majority of people I'd say this is the case. Might just be to read a message or maybe just to type and send a one-word response, but I think a lot of people have done it. It is such a small thing that takes so little time that it is easy to justify and easy to do – in the US I imagine it is even more tempting with long highways, cruise-control and large comfortable vehicles that sometimes feel like they are driving themselves. The consequences of such action is what this film is about and, although some may be put off by the idea of educational programming for schools, let me assure you that this short film is so much more than the standard.The main thing that drew me to it and one of the reasons it is such a strong film is that it is directed by Werner Herzog and he brings to this film the very high standards that one would associate with his feature-length documentaries. Although we (wisely) never hear his side of the interviews, he has a knack for getting people to talk, reflect and open up – not sure how he does it but it works so often. In the four stories we have presented here, he gets such great testimony. The film opens with "I had my brother in my hand" and we see a teenage girl posing half on a kerb with her hand behind her holding the hand of someone who isn't there anymore. It is a grabbing line and it is the best way to start because it never lets you go. The stories are presented factually and there is no fake music or forced sentimentality here, people just speak. For half the stories the film has access to the texters and their victims, for the other two just the victims, but they are all incredibly moving and it is hard not to feel for these people who, one way or another have had their lives completely changed for the worse. It is 35 minutes long but I found it very hard to make it through without hitting pause.The content may sound obvious but, like I say, the manner in which it is constructed and delivered is excellent and it is greatly complemented by the direction and cinematography. For all its sadness, it is a very beautiful film to look at. The definition is high, the colors are perfect and the shot selection and framing is great. We don't just get talking heads, we also get characters in-situ in places, against backdrops; it is perhaps hard to describe but while it doesn't use visually flair or trickery, it is plain and simple a beautiful looking film and worth watching on HD even if your internet connection is a bit slow.It is freely available online and it deserved to be watched. Those that love Herzog's work will find that he is totally present here (this is not some corporate gig for him) but the more important reason for watching is simply how tragic and brutally impacting the film is. Our lives are made up of small, selfish actions where we think of ourselves first and others second – the film makes it incredibly clear that these actions should be put to one side while in control of a 2 tonne block of metal traveling at speed.