Filmmaker Werner Herzog, in this tech-retrospective of the history of the internet and the convoluted relationship between humans and computers, examines the past, present and future of the internet. His easily recognizable gravelled-voice of the narrator is both ominous and puzzling.
Lo and Behold gives the viewer a spellbinding, lesser-known walk back in time through the birth of the computer and its subsequent impact on our daily lives. Some of the segments are dazzling glimpses of the brilliance of discovering this way of communication(with a few academic and boring bits of calculus), some are amusing (the increasing ubiquity of porn), and some are heartbreaking (cyber bullying, suicide, and grief). Anyone who spends a lot of time online will find plenty here to process and reflect on.
We see extremes: medical marvels saving lives or electromagnetic waves that debilitate. Each chapter introduces a different positive or negative dynamic of the internet.
At the end of Lo and Behold, after examining the intelligence of robots and their position in our lives (chapter: “Artificial Intelligence”), Herzog poses the question “Can the internet dream of itself?” This is a fascinating look at the pros and cons of our internet world–riveting and memorable!