Whatever you think you know about the scope of the internet is likely to be challenged by filmmaker Werner Herzog in his remarkable “Lo and Behold,” subtitled “Reveries of the Connected World.” I for one sit at my computer as I write this review with my idea of the internet confined to my daily use amid the usual concerns of hacking and the ramifications as reported in the stories that crop up in the press. Seeing Herzog’s work is an amazing revelation.
His exploration involving his penetrating questions and the responses of an array of interview subjects, plus Herzog’s broad perspective, illuminate how complex and far-reaching the internet has become. According to Herzog, virtually everything in how the world operates depends on the capabilities of the internet, which he traces from its inception to the present.
The effect is overwhelming. As we know, in our personal lives the internet plays a major role. But even space exploration has internet dependency, and Herzog raises the issue of whether computers will one day acquire minds of their own. Remember the computer Hal in Stanley Kubrick’s “2001: A Space Odyssey”? Hal’s rebellion and takeover come to mind as one contemplates Herzog’s speculation.
One can admire Herzog’s dogged inquisitiveness and the questions he poses in his interviews. He is constantly pressing to get definitive replies about where everything pertaining to the internet is going. But he is rebuffed by those more cautious than he –and perhaps we—would like them to be.
But the film ‘s revelations and connections are more than enough to make one gasp. Seeing this film is like taking a demanding science course. The tuition is the cost of a movie ticket, and one comes away with expanded knowledge and imagination. A Magnolia release. Reviewed August 19, 2016.