From One Second to the Next

Directed by Werner Herzog and presented by AT&T, Verizon, Sprint, and T-Mobile, From One Second to the Next is a 35-minute documentary about the dangers of texting while driving. The documentary isn’t just a public service announcement about the dangers of texting but also the damage that it brings as Herzog tells four different stories about the victims and those that had caused troubled all due to the dangers of texting while driving. The result is a sobering yet heart-wrenching documentary short from Werner Herzog.

This simple documentary tells the story of four people affected by the dangers of text and driving. First a boy named Xzavier from Michigan who was the victim of an accident that left him paralyzed and has to be on a ventilator. The second is a man named Chandler who had accidentally killed an Amish family in Indiana. The third is about a woman named Debbie who was hit by a car driven by a teenager while texting as she was just getting her mail with her dog who was killed. The fourth and final story is about a man named Reggie who caused a major accident that killed one person while a rancher had accidentally killed the other as he was trying to stop his truck.

These stories showcases not just the impact of how dangerous technology can be when not handled responsibly but also what it can do when one is driving a car on the road. Though Xzavier and Debbie are still alive, they’re not the same because of what happened as the latter can barely talk or do anything as she’s now in the care of friends and family. Chandler and Reggie are men who are forced to live with the guilt of their actions as the latter has become an advocate on the dangers of texting while driving. These people and their families all have a simple message as it’s to very directly without any embellishments nor in a heavy-handed manner.

With the help of cinematographer Peter Zeitlinger and editor Joe Bini, Herzog doesn’t go for any typical dramatic tricks to tell the story as he just goes for something that is very simple and understated. While he does use the music of Mark De Gil Antoni to underplay some of the drama, he doesn’t make it manipulative as he knows what is being told and just takes the time to talk to those who have been affected as well as a few police officers to showcase what happened as well as the damage it causes. Herzog doesn’t appear nor narrate the film by rather let the people do the talking and to just give out this message by just saying, it can wait.

From One Second to the Next is a powerful documentary short from Werner Herzog that is told with such care without the need to be overwrought. It’s a PSA that needs to be seen by not just licensed drivers but also young drivers who have just gotten their licenses or are getting their learner’s permit. It’s all about what not to do when one is driving on the road as it’s a truly harrowing documentary from Werner Herzog that needs to be seen.



Werner Herzog Films: Feature Films: (Signs of Life) - (Even the Dwarfs Started Small) - (Fatana Morgana) - Aguirre, the Wrath of God - (The Enigma of Kasper Hauer) - (Heart of Glass) - Stroszek - Nosferatu, the Vampire - Woyzeck - Fitzcarraldo - (Where the Green Ants Dream) - Cobra Verde - (Scream of Stone) - (Lessons of Darkness) - (Invincible (2001 film)) - (The Wild Blue Yonder) - Rescue Dawn - (Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans) - (My Son, My Son, What Have Ye Done?) - Queen of the Desert

Documentaries: (The Flying Doctors of East Africa) - (Handicapped Future) - (Land of Silence and Darkness) - (The Great Ecstasy of Woodcarver Steiner) - (How Much Wood Would a Woodchuck Chuck) - (La Soufrière) - (Huie's Sermon) - (God's Angry Man) - (Ballad of the Little Soldier) - (The Dark Glow of the Mountains) - (Wodaabe – Herdsmen of the Sun) - (Echoes from a Somber Empire) - (Jag Mandir) - (Bells from the Deep) - (The Transformation of the World into Music) - (Death for Five Voices) - (Little Dieter Needs to Fly) - My Best Fiend - (Wings of Hope) - (Pilgrimage) - (Ten Thousand Years Older) - (Wheel of Time) - (The White Diamond) - Grizzly Man - Encounters at the End of the World - Cave of Forgotten Dreams - (Into the Abyss) - (On Death Row)

© thevoid99 2013