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ENCOUNTERS AT THE END OF THE WORLD
Written, Directed & Narrated by Werner Herzog
Produced by Henry Kaiser
Director of Photography, Peter Zeitlinger
Edited by Joe Bini
Music by Kaiser & David Lindley
Released by ThinkFilm
USA. 99 min. Rated PG

Just before the lights dimmed for Werner Herzog’s latest documentary, Encounters at the End of the World, I jotted down some of the past ventures and lengths to which director Werner Herzog could “direct landscapes,” as he says. Among those I remembered were the mirages of African deserts in Fata Morgana, the underwater “alien worlds” of The Wild Blue Yonder, and the burning oil fields of Kuwait in Lessons of Darkness. Then listed was “Antarctica – tame?”

Perhaps, I thought, this might not be quite up to par with the challenges of filming in those other locations and conditions as it was a work meant for the Discovery Channel – one of the producers – and could be a watered-down version of the kind of poetic visual bravura Herzog brings to his projects. As it stands, thankfully to report, this is not entirely the case. While it does stand a chance of being more TV-friendly than the bizarre masterpiece Grizzly Man with its somewhat conventional structure and interest in pure science, it still contains what we love from Herzog: the search for ecstatic truth and some clarity among madness and dreams.

Herzog mentions right off in his narration that this film will not feature “fluffy penguins” and whatnot. This is not to say he doesn’t include some penguins at some point, albeit with bits with a recluse scientist, Dr. David Ainley, reporting on penguin prostitution and momentarily contemplating on a confused penguin adrift. What this really means is that Herzog takes an approach that won’t be the norm with nature documentaries – the people in the way-below-freezing, desolate areas of Antarctica are just as important as its mind-boggling landscapes.

We’re taken into the rather industrial town of McMurdo Station (which to Herzog feels like a correctional facility), population 1100. What intrigues Herzog are those who’ve fallen off from civilization in one manner or another to come to here as drivers, technicians, and scientists. One man has his middle and ring fingers the same length and claims to be of royal Aztec descent. Another, described by Herzog as a “tree-hugger,” is found rambling on about natural foods. And one woman, who has hundreds of tall tales about traveling the world, shows an audience how she can fit inside of a carryon bag.

Herzog’s direct approach with the interviews – more cerebral than usual for science/nature documentaries – works well and contrasts with the strange, sci-fi-like visual atmosphere he captures – in a digital format this time as opposed to film in the past. Some footage, miraculously shot underwater, is similar to Wild Blue Yonder in its otherworldly appeal. Elsewhere, shots of mountains, a huge, dormant volcano, and a sudden explosion of ice are extraordinary. This all amounts to a specific examination of what is so staggering about man in an inhospitable environment, with moments that still create wonder even as all has been discovered across the barren wastelands. Jack Gattanella
June 11, 2008