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Errol Morris is a gifted filmmaker who carefully constructs his stories in a deliberate and highly-entertaining fashion. Mr. Death: The Rise and Fall of Fred A. Leuchter, Jr. tells the story of the man who began by designing and repairing electric chairs and then moved into researching the use of poison gas in WWII Nazi concentration camps, which resulted in his downfall. It’s a fascinating story of how pride and vanity can take people into directions that you could not predict. As with all of Morris’ work it tells both the story and provides insight into the way that we construct reality and truth. The critical thing in any documentary or research is in asking the proper questions. Morris asked the right questions to tell the story and Leuchter did not in his illegal research which has been used to deny that the Holocaust occurred. It’s one of the best documentaries that I’ve seen in how it constructs the story and deals with so many issues and potential pitfalls in the story. Morris and his way of constructing a film is a source of inspiration for me and he’s influenced the way I see filmmaking because presentation and re-presentation of reality is much more complicated than it seems.
