This film was made in 2007 and directed by Werner Herzog. It may seem like a very commercial film from Herzog (like the recent Bad Lieutenant) but that doesn't mean it's not any good.
This is the film based on the Little Dieter Needs to Fly documentary of which I have blogged about earlier this year.
The historical accuracy of this film has be criticised, and family members of the prisoners have spoken out against Herzog. One prisoner in particular is Eugene DeBruin who is portrayed as a unstable, selfish coward in the film when he was not. What's terrifying is that he didn't escape but rumours say he was seen still in Laos up until the early 1990s.
I think this film really does Dieter's story a lot of justice whether or not it was 100% accurate Herzog said if he had known prior to making the film he would of included more. Here are some screenshots I have taken of the film. It was filmed 44 days in Thailand and a lot of the actors spent a month prior to it all losing weight. Then filmed it backwards as it's easier to gain weight than lose it.
It's a good film, but not Herzog's best. I suppose he felt compelled to make a film after doing the documentary. It is better than most of Hollywood and some aspects of Herzog manage to shine through in this film. You will find it well received from online sources but it's not a genre that I am particularly interested in. We have seen a lot of these films based in Vietnam and other places where people are imprisoned. For something really impressive, see the documentary this film is based on.
Managed to make these as animated GIFs using GIMP
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