Encounters At The End Of The World New! -

Most documentaries answer questions. Encounters at the End of the World asks them. Why do humans risk everything to live in the most hostile place on the planet? Why do penguins march to their doom? What is the sound of a glacier collapsing under its own weight?

The man coughed, a dry, hacking sound. He reached into his jacket and pulled out a leather-bound journal. He thrust it toward Elias. Encounters at the End of the World

Elias turned his back on the direction of the base. He clicked on his headlamp, the beam cutting a thin, fragile tunnel through the darkening gloom. He began to walk, leaving the safety of the known world behind, walking toward the mystery that had just breached the surface of the end of the world. Most documentaries answer questions

Later, Herzog visits the Crary Science Lab, where he encounters a marine biologist holding a desiccated, shriveled object. The scientist explains that it is the "cream of the crop"— Why do penguins march to their doom

At the same time, the film is grounded in the personal stories of the individuals who live and work on the continent. Herzog's interviews are direct and unobtrusive, allowing his subjects to reveal themselves in a natural and unguarded way. The result is a film that's both a documentary and a work of poetic expression, combining the intimacy of a character study with the grandeur of a landscape film.

Herzog finds an extraordinary cast. There’s a man who survived a civil war and now drives a forklift; a woman who studies seals and delivers deadpan, existential monologues; a penguin researcher who admits the birds are "not very bright" but strangely captivating. My favorite is a lonely traveler who built a homemade "submarine" out of a trash bin to explore under the ice. Each person seems to have run toward the void, not away from it. Herzog treats them with tenderness but also a knowing smirk—these are his people.

Encounters At The End Of The World - CeX (UK): - Buy, Sell, Donate Herzog's 'Encounters at the End of the World' | MPR News