Encounters at the End of the World

Encounters at the End of the World (2007)
--Werner Herzog

Documentary.

So I guess my assertion that my "Shortbus" review was going to be the only one for November was a little short-sighted? Haha. I'm glad it won't be alone in this month!

Anyway, "Encounters at the End of the World" is Herzog's documentary on Antarctica. Mostly he goes around interviewing the various people who work there, some study seals, some do cold-looking underwater diving (which has some of the most beautiful film footage ever and is part of why Herzog made this documentary in the first place), some work in the base at McMurdo--which is like a small town/complex where pretty much everyone there lives, some work with penguins (at the beginning of the film he says he will not be making a film about fluffy penguins... and then he goes off to film them... hahaha).

Anyway, it's really interesting because probably a lot of people don't know about the town that is on Antarctica. I mean, Antarctica is barely even on our maps, it's pushed down to the vary edge and its size is not represented correctly (it's pretty big, ya'll). By the way, that was sort of a side note by me, it wasn't really addressed like that in the film. Herzog does however link the current reality of Antarctica to the mythical fantasies of it that people have had through the ages, and that some people still do have? The people who he interviews are portrayed as dreamers, which is a recurrent theme in Herzog's films, so there are some pretty interesting people that he is talking to, many who say that Antarctica is just a place where a certain kind of people end up.

Yeah, McMurdo looks like an apocalyptic landscape to me. But maybe that's just me?

Haha, pretty much everyone should see this film for the beautiful undersea footage. Trust me, it's like nothing you've ever seen, unless you've seen "The Wild Blue Yonder," which also has a lot (and a lot more) Antarctica underwater scenes. I recommend both! I actually fell asleep during "The Wild Blue Yonder," but I think I was really tired, haha. That film was more "fictional," where the premise was that an alien was telling about his experiences (I'm pretty sure I also reviewed it awhile ago, so if you're interested, go for it). Anyway, if you want to see some awesome/beautiful footage, go watch this film and that film.

Oh yeah, and it's narrated by Herzog, though he doesn't directly ever appear onscreen, just in a few passing shots, which is sad. But his voice is awesome... Just saying... Here's a link to the trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MImYM87jOtU. It shows some of the awesomeness. It also reminded me that there is a point where the people who are studying seals talk about the otherworldliness of the noises that the seals make and you get to hear those noises, so it's pretty cool (seriously, they sound weird). And how Herzog chooses to film that scene is reminiscent of "Bells from the Deep," which is about "faith and superstition in Russia". And now that I think about it, I might not have reviewed "The Wild Blue Yonder" and I don't think I did "Bells of the Deep" either. Oh well. Life goes on.