Intrepid documentary and fictional film maker, Werner Herzog, has produced a film about sort of “the history of the internet”…called “Lo and Behold”. Werner is a world class filmmaker, and visionary with insatiable curiosity, and his films are generally worth paying attention to. Says here that’s true for Lo and Behold.
The film includes many brilliant and seminal minds, including Elon Musk, Danny Hillis, Kevin Mitnick, Sebastian Thrun, and others. It also includes some people with very eccentric viewpoints on reality, especially in the sections on the “evils” of the internet. Here Mr. Herzog waxes somewhat symbolic and mythical, as his examples of the “evils” of the internet are impactful if somewhat fringy. He takes the same approach with some who have tried to find a locale without exposure to various radio and other radiation.
OTOH, he manages to dig deep down to some of the fundamental questions of just how different is the world now and how much different will it be in the future, based on our burgeoning communications technology. Wish Werner had interviewed MIT’s Media Lab Joi Ito…that would have been quite fascinating.
Presently streaming on Netflix.
Trailer:
Featurette: