The Substance: Albert Hofmann’s LSD (2011)

Directed by: Martin Witz | 89 minutes | documentary

‘The Substance – Albert Hoffman’s LSD’ is a Swiss documentary that might as well have been called ‘LSD – The Biography’. We follow the famed drug from birth to resurrection, interspersed with its moments of glory and its fall. The story is told by discoverer Albert Hoffman, by psychiatrists and users, and we see archive footage of laboratories, mental institutions and the San Francisco of the famous Summer of Love. And in between, we get a glimpse of what it’s like to float in an LSD trip.

As a biography alone, this fascinating documentary is worth watching. Accidentally discovered by a Swiss lab technician, the substance quickly gains the attention of the psychiatric world. The trip that LSD causes is very similar to a peaceful psychosis. Then security forces turn to the drug. They see in the stuff a truth serum or a weapon to stun enemies with. Then the hallucinogenic drug is discovered by the hippies and the American government gets involved…

At least as fascinating as the background is how the stuff works. All users agree that LSD takes you to another level of consciousness, providing deep insights and a euphoric feeling of happiness. The images of users speak volumes, especially those of experimenting artists. It’s really nice that the filmmakers try to give the viewer a little insight into how such a trip works, by inserting alienating psychedelic images in a dosed way.

Although the tone of the film is fairly objective, it is a pity that the makers step over the phenomenon of ‘bad trip’ a little too easily. The image of a girl who has literally and figuratively lost her way hits hard after all the blank happiness. It is just as unfortunate that the makers do not take a trip to Eastern ideas. What Buddhists focus their efforts on—losing the ego and gaining pure consciousness—is suspiciously like the effect of LSD.

These are just minor flaws in an excellent documentary. Captivating from start to finish, The Substance – Albert Hoffman’s LSD not only tells a compelling story, but also makes the viewer ponder complex issues such as consciousness, mortality and reality. And about that strange land of America, where this peace drug was banned at a time when hundreds of thousands of Vietnamese were being spit on American spits. An instructive trip, without health risks.