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Music edit
Being well-viewed concerning Herzog's catalog, narrative and documentary, I found the statement "As with virtually all of Herzog's films, music is his guide to the viewer" to be offputting. Herzog normally has a very heavy personal hand in his documentaries, whether he appears in them (a lot of the time) and guides the action (as with Little Dieter Needs to Fly and Wings of Hope) or shares his thoughts through narration, and I don't believe the open-ended structure of Lessons of Darkness is completely typical of his style.
I think Lessons of Darkness is in the same style as the rest of his films. The open ended structure is heavy handed in order for the viewer to be able to see a new perspective. For example, in the first few frames of the film a quote pops up on screen that reads "The collapse of the stellar universe will occur-like creation- in grandiose splendor - Blake Pascal." Herzog admits in Herzog on Herzog that he wrote the quote. Herzog is on a self proclaimed quest for new images and perspectives. If adding a quote about space can make the viewer think of these images of burning oil in a way distanced from the truth Herzog will do it to achieve his "ecstatic truth." Herzog definitely uses music as a guide. Fata Morgana and Lessons of Darkness are very similar in their "open-ended structure" and I think the music in both play a large part in changing the way the viewer sees the film.Fransmcgruff (talk) 21:17, 18 March 2009 (UTC)