Encounters at the End of the World

In 2005, "March of the Penguins" had outgrossed all of the Best Picture nominees for the Oscars--"Brokeback Mountain," "Crash," "Capote," "Good Night, and Good Luck," and "Munich." The next year, "Happy Feat" won the Best Animated Film award. There is a man--not a penguin--interviewed in the beginning of Werner Herzog's "Encounters at the End of the World." Several moments later, the audience is introduced to a driver of 67,000 pound trucks. He is an idealist not concerned with money, or safety for that matter, as is evidenced when he discusses his time in the Peace Corps. Later there is a plumber who is part Apache and part royal family of the Incas. Another traveled through Africa in a truck and barely escaped several times.

Herzog makes it clear that this is not another film about penguins. There are penguins here, obviously, since it takes place in Antarctica. There is a sad moment when a penguin rushes towards the Arctic oblivion, and the humans are commanded not to interfere. There is no explanation known to humans why some penguins do this. Regardless, it happens, and the penguin is certain to die.

But Herzog is more concerned about those watching, studying, and appreciating the penguins and other aspects of Antarctica. This is a documentary about people living here--what brought them there and why they stay. They are people who, at the time of the filming, were living in an environment where for five months there is a lack of night, and at times looks like an ugly mining town. The weather they operate in is freezing, but the sea lions are certainly less frightening than the bears of "Grizzly Man." The people there are living on ice, a dynamic, living entity, as described by one of them.

This is a beautiful documentary, partly because of the natural elements Herzog and his team have captured on film--the seals which make Pink Floyd-like sounds, and the serenity of the ice is majestic. Herzog shows us the usual beauty of Antarctica, but again, this is a documentary about people, and Herzog narrating comments little on the visuals of the land, and instead the experiences and stories and episodes of the people. Some of the researches here, for example, reserve their excitement in discovering three new species (they celebrate later), and some watch B-science fiction films. The newcomers have to wear white buckets on their heads to simulate the lack of visibility during snow storms for survival school.

The filming crew finds a linguist who notes the irony of being "a linguist on a continent with no language." The young man goes on for a quite a while about the extinction of languages, which must be paraphrased by Herzog. Later, an interviewee (who also is a survivor of the Iron Curtain) cannot articulately put together his thoughts like the linguist can. As it becomes apparent that he does not enjoy remembering his haunting memories, Herzog assures him that he does not have to talk about them. Just as in "Grizzly Man," Herzog treats his subjects appropriately and professionally, even if he finds them a bit odd (save for a pogo stick enthusiast searching for Guinness records, who is interviewed away from Antarctica and does not receive much appreciation from Herzog).

Extinction is a theme that is constant here. Herzog criticizes those who do not address the extinction of languages across the globe. He notes that the crew is pessimistic about global warming and aware that humans will not be around forever. One human creation that does seem permanent is Shackleton's cabin, which still stands just as it was before, nearly a hundred years ago, and resembles an "extinct supermarket." To suggest that Herzog often has a gloomy outlook of the world would not be an original statement.

There are penguins in this movie. In fact, the triangular relationship of some penguins described in the film would have been much more enjoyable than either "Happy Feet" or "March of the Penguins." This is a very-well made film. Actually, I have yet to see a bad Herzog film, and hope that no such thing exists.