Ballarat Film Society – Lo and Behold: Reveries of the Connected World

USA, 2016, 98 min. Directed by Werner Herzog
Digital Revolution Documentary

Elon Musk, Lawrence Krauss and Lucianne Walkowicz, stars of the digital revolution, feature in Werner Herzog’s documentary about the internet, which he calls one of the “greatest revolutions of humanity.” Herzog asks pertinent questions, and patiently listens, allowing his subjects to reveal all the traits of genius, vanity, folly, and bravery of their digital pioneering. In essence, we are presented with the good, bad and the ugly of internet culture as we visit Internet-addiction rehab centres, hacker conventions and Elon Musk’s sleek office. As Rolling Stone reviewer David Fear writes, Herzog’s “Existential Pondering-ometer” goes into the red and, he advises us, there will be robots! The film is now over six years old and we all know how fast technology changes, so it will be interesting to view it in 2023 and maybe have a discussion afterwards.