Reviewed by Toby Weidmann
Stars Ryan Andrew Evans
Narrated by Werner Herzog
Written by Werner Herzog
Cinematography by Peter Zeitlinger
Certification UK U
Runtime 99 minutes
Directed by Werner Herzog
Although this is a documentary shot in the Antarctic, Encounters At The End Of The World is not, as writer, director and narrator Werner Herzog announces at the off, “another film about penguins”. Instead, Herzog presents something closer to a transcendental experience, mixing the often outlandish tales and strange habits of those who work in the coldest place on the planet with poetic images of the South Pole’s icy terrain, all to the backdrop of elegiac choral music. Life In the Freezer this certainly is not.
Based in the Antarctic’s only habitable township, McMurdo Station, the grotesque nerve centre of the continent’s scientific research hub that incongruously sticks out in what must be one of the most breathtaking landscapes on Earth, Herzog positions himself as a wide-eyed traveller exploring a strange new land, offering a unique meditation, full of wit and eccentricity, on the profundity of his location. It’s not just the wonder of nature that has attracted him to the South Pole, an interest originally piqued by underwater footage shot by friend and expert arctic diver, Henry Kaiser (who composed the music, produced and appears in the film), but also the question of the human condition. As such, the wisdom of McMurdo’s inhabitants, ranging from a former American banker now turned arctic bus driver to a cell biologist with a penchant for apocalyptic sci-fi movies, is given as much room in the docu as the haunting songs of the seal (a truly unnerving mix of almost electronic beeps, whistles and pops) or the heartbreaking actions of a penguin (yes, the cute birdies do make an appearance) that has decided not to follow the herd, instead wandering off on its own towards the interior of the frozen wasteland and thus certain death.
Herzog calls the 1,100-strong McMurdo inhabitants “professional dreamers” and it’s easy to see why they have all been drawn to such a dynamic setting. An exceptional frontier needs exceptional frontiersmen and the Antarctic’s collection of scientists, researchers and other personnel certainly don’t disappoint; each has a strange tale to tell. Inevitably, Encounters At The End Of The World fulfils the second meaning of its title by reflecting on the affect humanity is having on the planet and the erosion of the polar icecaps, which is perhaps the coalface of human extinction. But Herzog is never judgemental, simply presenting the facts as described by the resident scientists and adding his own musings, such as how the world will be perceived by alien visitors when the human species has long since departed this mortal coil.
It’s hard not to be thoroughly engaged by Herzog’s film, with the beauty of Antarctica, coupled with the eccentricities of the McMurdo inhabitants and Herzog’s own dry humoured narration providing a wondrous, dream-like experience, that at times borders on the spiritual – incidentally, arctic divers call descending under the ice as “going down into the cathedral”. Just as he did with Grizzly Man, with Encounters At The End Of The World Herzog has created another enthralling documentary that manages to bewilder, astound and enrapture in equal measure.
• Official Site
• Encounters At The End Of The World at IMDb