Another legendary German film director, Werner Herzog, continued his fascination with the documentary format in 2011 with the film Into The Abyss, a meticulously crafted film about the prison system in America, describing it as "a gaze into the abyss of the human soul." On the surface, Into The Abyss is about a triple homicide and the experiences of those involved - but this is more of a framing device for deeper philosophical questions about the nature of violence in society and the nature of psychopathology in a system which allows state-sanctioned murder via execution. As with most of Herzog's documentaries, Into The Abyss packs an emotional punch just as it makes you question the perceived orthodoxy of a political and social structure which includes capital punishment, ultimately drawn to the living and breathing human beings who come under its sway.