A Brilliant Conflict

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

The joyful confection is coated in a sparkly gloss, bright enough to gleam from the darkest, most cynical corners.

One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

Werner Herzog leads spectators to a unique journey through a series of provocative talks that reveal how the on-line world has transformed the way the real world functions - from trade to education, from space travel to health and all the way to the central issue of human behavior in society. Herzog has reconstructed the virtual world, from its inception, to its fullest extent, exploring the digital background with the same curiosity and creativity that he has accessed to various regions of the Earth, such as Amazon, the Sahara, the South Pole and abandoned areas of Australia.

Lo and Behold, Reveries of the Connected World (2016) *** (out of 4)Werner Herzog is one of the greatest filmmakers out there and I love his documentaries but I must admit that this one here was a bit uneven to say the least. Basically this documentary talks about a dozen different subjects that are all connected to the internet. We get subjects including how the internet was founded, the lack of security, the dark side of the technology and we also meet some famous hackers.LO AND BEHOLD, REVERIES OF THE CONNECTED WORLD is a film that's certainly worth watching but I must say that there's way too much that is covered. There are about a dozen different subjects that are discussed and I think all of them would have been interesting enough for their own film. When you put everything into one picture you're basically left with a bunch of mildly interesting and uneven short films.Just as an example, the history about the discovering of the internet and how it was done is covered in about ten-minutes. I'm sure there are many great stories dealing with these men, their offices and how the breakthroughs were done yet we don't get to hear too many details. Another example comes with "the dark side" and we meet a family whose daughter was decapitated in a car wreck and soon afterwards her lifeless body was online and the photo was being shared.Several of the stories here would have made for a great feature- length documentary. As it stands, some of the subjects are interesting but they're handled so quickly that you can't help but not fully feel entertained or informed.

Whilst this documentary tackles a very meaty subject (technology and its effects on humans, the world and the universe), it unfortunately is very dry in its delivery and quite limited in its effectiveness.I think this is for 2 main reasons - firstly, Herzog mainly interviews people who are very tech-savvy, tech-driven people who are completely and totally immersed in their chosen field. As such, they talk very enthusiastically in very technical terms about very dry topics. Imagine asking a Maths Fan Club to tell you all about what their favourite prime number is and why and then filming it....DRY, BORING & INDECIPHERABLE for those of us not on the same page, right?! I feel like a lot of the film was like that! I learned a couple of interesting facts from these people, but not enough to sustain a whole film's worth of interest. The more 'human' element, where Herzog talks to people about the effect technology has had upon them, is far more interesting - but there is much less of that in the film than the technical stuff. I think he was trying to link the 2 together - i.e. here is what the intent was/is, but this is actually what has happened/will happen - but he doesn't pull it off.This brings me to my second point - Herzog has picked a really expansive subject, and as such, cannot possibly give each element the attention it needs or deserves. He should have just stuck with, say, the effects of the internet, or the looming figure of artificial intelligence. There is not enough time and space in one film to link all aspects together efficiently.So, if you are a very logical, tech-savvy person, who enjoys technically informing documentaries, you may really like this. If like me, you're more into the psychological/emotional angles, you likely won't.

I watched this still not knowing what the internet was. I've seen friends talk about it, or my brother bought a TV from the Internet once, but this film was really fascinating. It was fascinating how Herzog portrayed all sides of this massive electronic thing – from the dark side, of how a family were abused through the internet or even how internet sends out signals through your hi-fi and can send you crazy. I didn't even know you could connect to the internet using dangerous hi-fi signals, but you can. I really loved how Herzog looked into how it will evolve, and admittedly nobody really knew, but Elon Musk is going to get the internet onto Mars soon. Like who will need eBay on Mars, duuurrrr!!!Anyway, this film was amazing.