Das Netz (2003)

Director:

Lutz Dammbeck

Writer:

Lutz Dammbeck (writer)

Release Date:

13 January 2005 (Germany)

Genre:

Documentary

Cast

  (Credited cast)

Lutz Dammbeck	...	Himself
Eva Mattes	...	Narrator (voice)
Thomas Vogt	...	Narrator (voice)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Stewart Brand	...	Himself
John Brockman	...	Himself
Butch Gehring	...	Himself
David Gelernter	...	Himself
Theodore John Kaczynski	...	Himself
Ken Kesey	...	Himself (archive footage)
Timothy Leary	...	Himself (archive footage)
Henry A. Murray	...	Himself (archive footage)
Robert W. Taylor	...	Himself
Heinz von Foerster	...	Himself
Chris Waits	...	Himself
Norbert Wiener	...	Himself (archive footage)

Also Known As:

Das Netz - Unabomber/LSD/Internet (Germany)
The Net (USA)

Runtime:

Germany:121 min

Country:

Germany

Language:

English | German

Color:

Black and White | Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Filming Locations:

Berlin, Germany

Company:

Arte

Intriguing if not wholly successful look at the battle between technology and anti-technology

This is a German documentary about the rise of the internet, mind control and other military experiments and the unabomber, Ted Kaczynski. Told through interviews with various people who were involved with the various subjects the film is more an essay on the change in society and the encroachment of technology for better or worse into our lives. Linking it all together is the story of Kaczynski who's actions were some how connected to the people interviewed. As a look at the rise of the thing we call the internet the film is quite good and thought provoking weaving together a fabric of information that probably wasn't well known before.

The problem with the film is that making Kaczynski a focal point the director often goes off the rails, indeed almost all of the people interviewed abruptly end the interview when the unabomber is mentioned. This would be okay since what we get up to that point is often choice material, however by the time the final credits roll we are not certain what the point of including Kaczynski was. Is he a hero or villain? Does he side with or against him? Is he really connected to all of the other subjects as the filmmakers seem to think he is? I don't think so. Certainly if he's siding towards anti technology there is the chance of being hypocritical since it clear how much of the film comes from computers, the net and other sources of technology.

I'm a bit flummoxed by the film. Certainly the film is thought provoking and eye opening but in the end it falls apart. Allowing for its final crash this is a film that I look forward to seeing again. It simply has too much material to tickle the gray cells to ignore. Worth a look for those who want to be made to think.