Encounters at the End of the World
by Werner Herzog
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: David Ainley, Kevin Emery, Regina Eisert, Ryan Andrew Evans, Samuel S. BowserDirector: Werner Herzog
Brand: Image Entertainment
Writer: Werner Herzog
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: Spanish (Subtitled); English (Original Language)
Format: Color, Dolby, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.78:1
Running Time: 99 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2008-11-18
Audience Rating: G (General Audience)
Studio: Image Entertainment
Movie Reviews of Encounters at the End of the World
Movie Review: "Nature Will Regulate Us"
Summary: 5 Stars
ENCOUNTERS AT THE END OF THE WORLD (2008, dir. Werner Herzog, for The Discovery Channel) reminded me gleefully why I loved watching Jacques Cousteau when I was growing up. Herzog has outdone himself with this great, great documentary.
Herzog took it into his mind to explore the people as much as the region of Antarctica (the South Pole). His anticipation and arrival there are as fascinating as the rest of this film. He arrives at the main base camp in Antarctica with dreams of Shackleton--and he finds "what looks like an ugly mining town". He is in no way anxious to stay there, where there is "a yoga studio among other abominations."
Herzog wants to get out and see scenery and people! Boy, does he ever, and he really delivers. I wish filmmakers would watch this and learn from a master. Herzog zeroes in on a gaggle of eccentrics who work around the snowy desert wilds, including a man who barely escaped East Germany with his life and a seemingly compulsive liar who claims to have traveled from Lima, Peru to Ecuador through the sewers.
In the beginning, Herzog attends a survival exercise that had me in stitches. To simulate a snowstorm whiteout, large, square white buckets are placed on the trainees' heads. This, I can tell you, is very realistic as far as sensory impairment in a storm. It is their job to tether themselves to the hut, to each other, then go out looking for a lost comrade--all blind. The pathetic results are so hilarious.
The many interesting people, the atmosphere, the cold, all prompt Herzog to meditate on metaphysical issues. He corners a reticent penguin scientist and asks if there are any "insane" penguins. The scientist looks and sounds idiotic--but then Herzog actually films a penguin losing its mind. I won't spoil it. It is too sad, and too good. However, Herzog suggests the global warming may be partially responsible.
Herzog knows how to give. It is that quality that documentarists are missing. Not once does he mug for the camera or even shoot himself; he's content narrating, and I found his soothing, hissing German-tinged voice to be one of the best parts. He sounds a lot like his old protégé Klaus Kinski.
Another kick-ass feature was the sound of the big seals, calling underwater. They sound like a combination of landing flying saucers and other corny 1950s B-movies sound effects. Amazing that they make sounds like that--and no one knows exactly why they do it. The wife said she had never heard anything like that (except in my own musical compositions).
Get this...it is the equal of MARCH OF THE PENGUINS (see my review) and it will tickle your philosophy bone too. You cannot be without this great film. KUDOS, MASTER HERZOG!
Summary of Encounters at the End of the World
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