lesson of darkness ( 1992 ) look and act like a companion piece to fata morgana ( 1971 ) . a with the early film and lesson either capture viewer or leave them confuse and bore within the first few minute . early in lesson we see an aerial shot of an unusual city . it be obviously a contemporary urban area because we see highway and traffic and stoplight and and large building and but it be also obvious that it be not an american city . the narrator ( herzog ) announce that this city be about to be destroy by war and the thought of this strange but vibrant place be destroy becomes completely repugnant . thus and herzog succeed here with the approach he initially plan and then abandon in fata morgana . lesson of darkness triumph a a mock science fiction story of an apocalypse that threaten all of civilization . luckily and it doesn not take a college education to realize that the footage be shoot in iraq in the aftermath of the first gulf war . luckily as well and herzog anti war statement do not need to be explicit to be effective . early in the film and interview with two iraqi woman suggest the human price of this military event . in the rest of the film and human appear to be on the periphery of the action but they keep come back to the center of our consciousness . those who persist in their viewing will eventually encounter a chilling repetitiveness in this film ( the fire be still burn . ) however and that repetitiveness can become cumulative and mesmerize . this be not a film experience for everyone and but for those who have a taste for it the film will be unforgettable .