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GRADE: A+ (BOTH FILMS)

“Lake of Fire” is a riveting and sometimes jarring 2006 documentary film that graphically depicts both sides of the abortion debate in the United States. This movie along with “For The Bible Tells Me So” (reviewed below) are two of the most important documentaries I have ever seen and I can’t stress how much people should see these movies. Both films show the current cultural war being waged by fundamentalists across the United States in a fair handed and even manner with frightening results.

“Lake of Fire” was filmed entirely in black and white. Director Tony Kaye (American History X) gives equal time to those on both sides of the debate, as well as showing the grim realities of what it means to actually get the procedure done. After making this film Kaye has said that he still does not know his own personal feelings about abortion.

At 152 minutes, his film doesn’t seem long, because at every moment something absorbing, disturbing, depressing or infuriating is happening. The decision to use black and white was smart because, as with “Schindler’s List,�? too much red might well have sent audiences fleeing from theaters. One lesson of “Lake of Fire�? is the galvanizing power of the visual image and there is plenty to soak up in this movie.

WATCH THE “LAKE OF FIRE” MOVIE TRAILER BELOW

“For The Bible Tells Me So” explores the intersection between religion and homosexuality in the U.S. and how the religious right has used its interpretation of the Bible to stigmatize the gay community. The film looks deep into the hearts of several families–a few of them quite famous–that have struggled with making sense of having a homosexual son or daughter in the fold.

Dan Karslake’s provocative, entertaining documentary brilliantly reconciles homosexuality and Biblical scripture, and in the process reveals that Church-sanctioned anti-gay bias is based solely upon a significant (and often malicious) misinterpretation of the Bible. As the film notes, most Christians live their lives today without feeling obliged to kill anyone who works on the Sabbath or eats shrimp.

This is an extremely informative, heartbreaking documentary about intolerance and manipulation, sadly and assuredly never to be seen by the people who need this info the most. I cannot stress how much I recommend this movie to people struggling with religious and sexual issues.

WATCH THE “FOR THE BIBLE TELLS ME SO” MOVIE TRAILER BELOW