Werner Herzog recently showed an interest in the prison system with his groundbreaking documentary Into the Abyss, which dealt with inmates on death row and the notions of capital punishment. But he'd dealt with prisons before in 2007's Rescue Dawn, which pretty much served as the Bavarian director's first proper "Hollywood" movie. Starring Christian Bale, Rescue Dawn is based on the true story of German-American pilot Dieter Dengler, whose plane is shot down during the Vietnam war. Captured and placed in a P.O.W. camp, Dengler soon learns that his captors are planning to execute him and the other prisoners, and he hatches a plan to escape. Herzog made a documentary on the same subject back in 1997 called Little Dieter Needs To Fly; why he felt the need to go back is anybody's guess, but it's a good thing he did: all the Herzogian tropes are present in this gruesome and yet surprisingly funny film, whilst Christian Bale puts in an excellent performance as Dieter. A minor triumph, this one.
Sam Hill is an ardent cinephile and has been writing about film professionally since 2008. He harbours a particular fondness for western and sci-fi movies.
