''Flight from Death'' (2003) is a
documentary film
A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a historical record". Bill Nichols has characterized the documentary in te ...
that investigates the relationship of human violence to fear of death, as related to subconscious influences. The film describes death anxiety as a possible root cause of many human behaviors on a psychological,
spiritual, and cultural level. It was directed by
Patrick Shen
Patrick Shen (born 1975) is an American writer and director and producer. Shen is the founder of Transcendental Media.
Documentaries
Shen directed the Emmy-nominated documentary ''We Served With Pride: The Chinese American Experience in WWII'', ...
, produced by Greg Bennick, and narrated by
Gabriel Byrne
Gabriel James Byrne (born 12 May 1950) is an Irish actor, film director, film producer, screenwriter, audiobook narrator, and author. His acting career began in the Focus Theatre before he joined London's Royal Court Theatre in 1979. Byrne's s ...
.
Summary
The film's purpose is to investigate humankind's relationship with death, and is heavily influenced by the views of cultural
anthropologist Ernest Becker
Ernest Becker (September 27, 1924 – March 6, 1974) was an American cultural anthropologist and author of the 1974 Pulitzer Prize-winning book, ''The Denial of Death''.
Biography Early life
Ernest Becker was born in Springfield, Massachusetts ...
's ''
The Denial of Death''. In addition to interviews with a number of contemporary philosophers, psychiatrists and teachers such as
Sam Keen,
Robert Jay Lifton
Robert Jay Lifton (born May 16, 1926) is an American psychiatrist and author, chiefly known for his studies of the psychological causes and effects of wars and political violence, and for his theory of thought reform. He was an early proponent of ...
,
Irvin Yalom
Irvin is both a given name and a surname. Notable people with the name include:
Given name
* Irvin J. Borowsky (1924-2014), American publisher
* Irvin Cobb (1876–1944), American author
*Irvin Dorfman (1924–2006), American tennis player
*Irvin ...
,
Merlyn Mowrey and
Daniel Liechty, the film introduces the viewer to a group of social psychologists, who conduct research in support of what they call
terror management theory (terror in this case not being
terrorism
Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of criminal violence to provoke a state of terror or fear, mostly with the intention to achieve political or religious aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violen ...
, but rather emotional and psychological reaction to mortality awareness). Over the last twenty-five years, proponents of terror management theory have conducted over 300 laboratory studies demonstrating that subtle reminders of death on a subconscious level motivates a statistically significant number of subjects to exhibit biased and
xenophobic
Xenophobia () is the fear or dislike of anything which is perceived as being foreign or strange. It is an expression of perceived conflict between an in-group and out-group and may manifest in suspicion by the one of the other's activities, a ...
type behaviors, such as gravitating toward those who they perceive as culturally similar to themselves and holding higher negative feelings and judgments toward those they perceive as culturally dissimilar to themselves.
Studies and research
In a recent study, the research team discovered that reminding
Palestinians
Palestinians ( ar, الفلسطينيون, ; he, פָלַסְטִינִים, ) or Palestinian people ( ar, الشعب الفلسطيني, label=none, ), also referred to as Palestinian Arabs ( ar, الفلسطينيين العرب, label=non ...
of their own death through subconscious means inspired conscious shifts in opinion towards wanting to become
suicide bomber
A suicide attack is any violent attack, usually entailing the attacker detonating an explosive, where the attacker has accepted their own death as a direct result of the attacking method used. Suicide attacks have occurred throughout history ...
s. This subconscious death reminder inspired the subjects to act aggressively against differing others, even at the risk of losing their own lives. Terror is the result of deep
psychological forces; the research described in ''Flight from Death'' suggests that these forces can be explained, yielding information about personal
anxiety
Anxiety is an emotion which is characterized by an unpleasant state of inner turmoil
Turmoil may refer to:
* ''Turmoil'' (1984 video game), a 1984 video game released by Bug-Byte
* ''Turmoil'' (2016 video game), a 2016 indie oil tycoon video ...
and the motivation of
social violence
Social organisms, including human(s), live collectively in interacting populations. This interaction is considered social whether they are aware of it or not, and whether the exchange is voluntary or not.
Etymology
The word "social" derives from ...
.
Accolades
*
Beverly Hills Film Festival - Audience Choice Award for Best Documentary (2003)
*Ohio Independent Film Festival - Best Documentary (2003)
*
Silver Lake Film Festival - Best Documentary (2003)
*Malibu Film Festival - Best Documentary (2004)
*Northern Lights Documentary Film Festival - Best Documentary (2004)
*
Northwest Film Forum - Best Documentary (2004)
*
Rhode Island International Film Festival
Flickers' Rhode Island International Film Festival (RIIFF) takes place every year in Providence and Newport, Rhode Island as well as satellite locations throughout the state.
History
Started in 1997, the Festival is produced by Flickers, the ...
- Best Documentary (2004)
See also
* ''
The Denial of Death''
*
Angel of Grief
References
External links
Official website* {{IMDb title , id = 0365215 , title = Flight from Death: The Quest for Immortality
2003 television films
2003 films
American documentary films
Documentary films about death
2000s English-language films
2000s American films