“Theatre of Thought” Review
Neurobiologist Rafael Yuste (upper left) and Werner Herzog (bottom right) examine a piece of equipment which reads brain function in “Theatre of Thought” the latest documentary from Herzog.
If you look at my About section, you’ll see that I have a list of some of my favorite filmmakers. Among them is the great Werner Herzog who has made over 70 feature and documentary films over his long career and shows no signs of slowing down. If anything, he’s intensified his creative output. Just this year, he’ll have released his first novel, a memoir and two documentary films which both premiered at the DOC NYC festival. I had the distinct pleasure of viewing both of Herzog’s films. The first, “Theatre of Thought,” was an immensely gripping documentary about how leading scientists are trying to understand something within us that we can barely comprehend: our own brains.
What is a thought? What is consciousness? How does human brain activity differ from the rest of the animal kingdom? How is it similar? Do fish dream? When parrots repeat words, do they truly know their meaning? Herzog tries to answer these questions, and so many more, by meeting top scientific minds and seeing how the brain works, what its limits are and how technology and biology can become more infused with the passing of time.
As a filmmaker, Herzog isn’t trying to be a journalist. He doesn’t like to use the word interview when he meets with the subjects he films. He simply engages in conversations. Through them, he asks so many leading figures in neurology, mathematics, biology and other incredible fields about the advances in how we study the brain and the technology that can be used to improve higher functions.
The journey Herzog takes us on is relentlessly fascinating and I felt so much smarter watching the film and seeing all of these incredible people doing things that I still struggle to comprehend. What makes the film so engaging for the everyman is that Herzog isn’t a scientist and he approaches the subject with the wide-eyed curiosity that his audience has. During a scene in which a mathematician relates geometric equations to brain functions, Herzog voices over to say “I have no idea what’s going on and I’m sure many of you don’t either. However, I found this all to be fascinating.”
I became almost childlike when watching “Theatre of Thought.” Overwhelmed and fascinated with how neurosurgeons and technology can help the paralyzed walk and even correct mental illnesses. It was like being transported back to the third grade when I learned about how fast the Earth was spinning, both on its axis and around the sun, and I couldn’t wrap my head around how everything still felt so still.
When I went to see the film and learned that it would address how technology, like computer chips and nanobots, can be used to improve brain functions, I was curious as to how Herzog and the people he talked to would address the moral implications. Gratefully, they do so and many of the leading figures Herzog depicts are shown to be competent, caring and aware of the ethics surrounding brain technology.
What is really a mental illness and what mental illnesses or disorders even need to be corrected? The film addresses this because, not long ago, being gay or transgender was considered a mental illness and still is in some circles. Autism is a neurodevelopmental disorder but many people on the spectrum live great lives and don’t need to be “fixed.” Hell, I have ADHD and I wouldn’t want something to suppress that part of my brain and make me “normal.” However, based on the information presented in the film, both scientists and governments are fashioning codes and rules as to what should and shouldn’t be done to our brains. It’s a fairly optimistic portrait of where science can take us and I can’t wait to see how this technology progresses.
There’s one portion of the film that I’ve been struggling to comprehend. Not because there’s scientific terms that I found confusing, but because there’s a conversation that, on paper, has nothing to do with the rest of the film. In this sequence, Herzog visits a famous friend of his: Phillipe Petit, the famous wirewalker who did eight crossings between the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in 1974 while over 1300 feet in the air.
While talking to Herzog, Petit does his daily exercises of walking on high wires. In fact, he’s practicing on the same cable he used for his World Trade Center walk. While he’s walking, Herzog asks Petit about fear and Petit answers that he was never afraid during the crossing. Afterwards, he was terrified but you have to suppress fear in order to do what he does. What I’ve come to realize is how essential that scene is because it shows the real world implications of our brain functions and how magnificent that piece of tissue in our skull truly is.
Despite displaying so much knowledge, Herzog makes it perfectly clear that we’ve barely scratched the surface of understanding our brains. We still don’t know what thoughts are nor consciousness. But maybe in 10, 20 or 50 years, we can scientifically explain how we’re conscious, how we come up with our amazing thoughts and how we can benefit mankind with this hard-won information.
