Mr. Death: The Rise and Fall of Fred A. Leuchter, Jr.
themes from the Randall Adams film. Indeed, he presents a main character whose entire career and belief system has been built on avoiding the facts. Indeed, Morris doesn't so much state his case as allow Leuchter to talk his way into exposing his own web of self-constructed lies and blinders.
Once again, Morris has created a documentary which works on the level of narrative fiction, with stylized dramatizations of Leuchter's interviews. There's a montage of a shadowy figure drinking endless cups of coffee in a diner which corresponds with Leuchter cheerfully relaying that he drinks forty cups a day, followed by endless shots of walls being punctured by a chisel or tracking shots of a barren Auschwitz, all mossy mold and decay as nature slowly covers up the evidence of fifty years ago.
The Morris Technique
The film certainly acts as a spark for extensive discussion about the human condition and the face of evil, embodied in the seemingly inconsequential frame of Fred Leuchter. It's impossible not to feel a touch of pity for this little man, but with that sympathy comes the bitter taste that he knew full well what he was getting himself involved in. The fact that Morris explores these questions which have defined the 20th Century alone make Mr. Death essential, important viewing.
It also serves as a reminder of what a documentary can be. Morris uses cinematic techniques such as the visual representation of storytelling to dramatize the action, and also employs different techniques in cinematography. There are jarring slow motion shots of Leuchter's grimacing smile as he straps down the electric chair; or clean black and white intercut with gritty color shot by Oliver Stone's favorite director of photography, Robert Richardson.
Most interesting is the superb use of Morris' own invention, the Interratron. This device allows subjects "to be interviewed naturally while appearing to speak directly to the viewer." By allowing Leuchter the opportunity to present his case directly to the viewer, we are left to draw our own conclusions. From his lips to our ears, it puts us in direct contact with the face of evil. The scary thing is, the line between evil and everyday behavior is more difficult to determine than you might assume.
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