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Encounters at the End of the World (2008)
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Movie Review by E
August 23rd, 2008
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In both his fiction and documentary films, filmmaker Werner Herzog delights in bizarre journeys. He's given us a hopeless Spanish expedition in the cult classic Aguirre: The Wrath of God (1972), a German's questionable move to Wisconsin in Stroszek (1977), an ascent to a vampire's castle in Nosferatu (1979)—I could go on and on. As his journeys unfold, Herzog's camera reveals the many oddities of man. Particularly in his documentaries, he seems to allow scenes to expand a bit when he happens on a peculiar individual. At times Herzog theorizes about unusual human behavior, as he does in Grizzly Man (2005), and sometimes he is content merely to document curious activity. In the amusing mockumentary Incident at Loch Ness (2004), he offers an indication of what drives him as a filmmaker when he observes that whenever a woman claims to have been abducted and raped by aliens, he would like to understand why the accuser is always an obese American woman. Maybe that documentary is in the works.
But for now, Encounters at the End of the World will have to suffice, and I'm OK with that. Herzog films always have stood outside the mainstream, and he's as interesting a filmmaker at the age of 65 as he ever was. A true Auteur, his films tend to be recognizable from the opening shot. Never short on confidence, his signature opening sequence features attention-getting imagery that immediately establishes the playing field, with epic music announcing the film's importance. In this case, the film opens with producer Henry Kaiser's footage of the frigid world beneath the ice, where divers resolutely search for new species that may help explain the origins of life. In addition to diving expeditions, diverse scientists document volcanic activity, lactose-free seal milk, glacier movement, and an inexplicably mad penguin. But the people are more important to Herzog than the landscape, as he fascinates in placing the world's misfits before his camera. McMurdo Station is a sort of melting pot for various researchers, adventurers, and outcasts. Herzog's subjects include a man who believes he is the descendant of Aztec royalty based on the notion that his index and pinky fingers are of identical length, an obsolete linguist, and a female vagabond whose talents include fitting inside a piece of carry-on luggage.
In lesser hands this could be incredibly dull, but Herzog's droll narration links each sequence to the next with ease. His unmistakable German accent and dry sense of humor always pleasing to the ear, Herzog's voice has become as much a signature of his documentaries as the offbeat characters who inhabit them. Wernerisms mostly amuse in the film's early segments, but become more serious as Herzog reflects on the realities of global warming. While contemplating the significance of people stationed at the South Pole, he wonders what visiting extra-terrestrials might think about what remains there after our extinction.
A Discovery Films production shot in high definition video, Encounters at the End of the World looks absolutely fantastic. Although this review is based on an advance DVD screening copy, I think it's safe to assume this will be a justifiable Blu-ray purchase for film fans in the know.
--Eric Somer, 8/22/2008
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