Encounters at the End of the World

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To be honest, I wasn’t really sure what to expect from the damned thing but since I’m a big fan of Werner Herzorg, I was quite eager to check it out. Well, following 'Grizzly man', this was  the 2nd documentary directed by Werner Herzorg that I had the pleasure to watch and, once again, I was quite impressed. Herzorg actually has a very peculiar style since his narration is omnipresent and I ... read more

Werner Herzog takes us on an expedition to the barrens of a frozen Antarctica. Here, the inhabitants seem to be sort of lost but found. They have spent their years traveling the globe and they all happened to end up in—or were strangely attracted to—the same place: McMurdo. The people Herzog interviewed all seem to have positive outlooks and very interesting perspectives on life and living, an... read more

Description: The idiosyncratic German filmmaker Werner Herzog heads off to Antarctica to make a documentary and assures us at that he is not about to make "another film about penguins." But fate has its way with him (more about that later). At the outset, Herzog is stunned by the "seemingly endless void" of Antarctica with its vast spaces and silence. Arriving at the McMurdo research station, he describes it as looking like an ugly mining town. Herzog grows restless and criticizes the "abominations" of a yoga studio and an ATM. He is puzzled by the kind of individuals who would volunteer to work in such a pla The idiosyncratic German filmmaker Werner Herzog heads off to Antarctica to make a documentary and assures us at that he is not about to make "another film about penguins." But fate has its way with him (more about that later). At the outset, Herzog is stunned by the "seemingly endless void" of Antarctica with its vast spaces and silence. Arriving at the McMurdo research station, he describes it as looking like an ugly mining town. Herzog grows restless and criticizes the "abominations" of a yoga studio and an ATM.

He is puzzled by the kind of individuals who would volunteer to work in such a place at the end of the world. He finds some fascinating people to share their reasons for being there: a forklift operator and philosopher who speculates that Antarctica is for professional dreamers and adventurers; an oceanologist who loves the magic feeling of being adrift in the ocean on a gigantic iceberg; a journeyman plumber who claims to have come from Aztec ancestors; and a female researcher who loves being a vagabond and contorts her body into a small piece of luggage for a performance in the community's talent show. In the documentary's funniest scene, the newcomers are subjected to a two-day survival school where they learn how to build an igloo and work together to handle a whiteout storm.

At the research camp, Herzog meets Sam Bowser who will be taking his last dive under the ice in a long career. Some of the scientists who go underwater in search of facts about the evolution of the earth refer to their dive as going "down into the cathedral." We are introduced to a world of strange creatures and a landscape like the moon. One day a member of the team discovers three new species. It is at such moments that the film makes a good case for the spiritual practice of wonder. These scientists talk about the mysteries of the natural world and the animal kingdom with reverence. One can't help but be awed by the many strange and wonderful sights on the screen.

Although Herzog has no interest in going gaga over cute penguins, he is surprised when after talking to a nature researcher about their habits, a lone penguin wanders off on his own. This "deranged" penguin, as Herzog calls him, is bound to experience an icy death separated from the community. The filmmaker comments that many scientists in Antarctica don't hold out much hope for the survival of humankind. Like the lone penguin and Herzog himself, we all have to make our own way through the world.

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