Where the Green Ants Dream [DVD] [1984] [Region 1] [US Import] [NTSC] - Region 1 DVD

In the wilds of Australia, aboriginal tribes observe their ancient legends and laws evolved over 40,000 years. Their culture is threatened by a giant corporation that wants to mine in one of their aborigines' holiest sites - the place 'where the green ants dream'. As long as those dreams remain uninterrupted, the aboriginal culture will survive but if the mining company executives succeed with their plan to destroy the holy ground, the aborigines believe that their civilization - and the earth will perish. Thus starts a revolt by the world of dreams against an impatient civilization that seems to want everything but understands nothing.


Director Werner Herzog is famous for the deranged physical feats he captures in his movies, but Where the Green Ants Dream tackles an even greater challenge: The gap between the Western mind and Australian aboriginal cosmology. In the Australian outback, a geologist for a mining company (Bruce Spence, The Road Warrior, Aquamarine) finds his work obstructed by aborigines who tell him that his explosive tests will disrupt the dreaming of the green ants and wreak havoc on humanity. The mining company tries to mollify the aborigines, but they implacably resist. The confrontation escalates to a lawsuit argued before the Australian supreme court (which is based on the first legal battle over aboriginal land rights). This may sound dry--and much of the film is bathed in gusts of red Australian dust--but throughout the film, the geologist struggles to communicate with the aborigines and grasp the fundamentally different perception of the world. His glimpse (and ours) of this other worldview turns Western civilization on its side and leads the geologist to question his whole life. Herzog (Aguirre: The Wrath of God, Grizzly Man) isn't subtle, but that doesn't diminish the often hypnotic power of his images, from footage of tornados to the faces of the aborigines, gentle as water yet as firm as stones. This is a worthy addition to Herzog's difficult, thrilling, maddening, and ultimately rewarding body of work. --Bret Fetzer