In a new doc­u­men­tary, titled Into the Abyss: A Tale of Life, A Tale of Death, renowned doc­u­men­tar­i­an Werner Herzog (pic­tured) exam­ines the case of a triple homi­cide in Conroe, Texas, explor­ing why peo­ple kill and why states car­ry out exe­cu­tions. The film fea­tures inti­mate con­ver­sa­tions with many of those involved in the case, includ­ing 28-year-old death row inmate Michael Perry, who was exe­cut­ed short­ly after his inter­view with Herzog in 2010. The film also includes inter­views with Perry’s co-defen­dant, Jason Burkett, who was giv­en a life sen­tence; the woman who lost both her moth­er and broth­er in the crime; the Texas death row chap­lain; and one of the guards who per­formed exe­cu­tions. Richard Corliss, a review­er from Time Magazine, com­ment­ed on ​“Into the Abyss”: ​“It pro­vides inti­mate glimpses of peo­ple usu­al­ly seen, and then only briefly, as faces on a post-office wall or num­bers in a ceme­tery. Herzog asks view­ers not to agree with his posi­tion on the state’s right to kill, but to spend some time with folks who would kill, or be killed, for the sake of a red Camaro.” ​“Into the Abyss” will be released In New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles on November 11, 2011, with a wider release in the fol­low­ing weeks. Among Herzog’s oth­er works are his recent ​“Cave of Forgotten Dreams” (2010) and the award-win­ning ​“Grizzly Man.” See below for a trail­er to the film.

(Press release, ​“Into the Abyss: A Tale of Life, A Tale of Death” (with trail­er), a doc­u­men­tary by Werner Herzog, IFC Films, forth­com­ing November 2011). See Multimedia.

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