Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Movie Review: Encounters at the End of the World

The Independent Film Festival of Boston ended tonight. I saw my 13th movie in a week, but after seeing 6 on Saturday it really maxed me out. Tonight was just one, Encounters at the End of the World a documentary by Warner Herzog of a trip he took to McMurdo station in Antarctica. The film is a combination of nature shots and interviews with out-of-the-ordinary scientists who find themselves at the bottom of the world.

I didn't realize McMurdo was as big as it is. He described it as an ugly mining town and that seems appropriate. I loved that he said it included such abominations as an aerobics studio and yoga classes. If you've travelled so far to get there, having those familiar things would be disappointing.

I'd heard the phrase "on the ice" but I never thought that it differentiated between being on land and being on six foot thick ice over a bay the size of Texas. And I never would have imagined that you can hear things through this ice, things like seals that sound like Pink Floyd. They drill through the ice and then dive in -2°C water. I don't understand how they do that with some of their faces are exposed but they did.

At the beginning he describes how he didn't want shots of fluffy penguins but at some points he does talk with some scientists studying them. His questions are a bit out of the ordinary: "Are there gay penguins?" and "Do penguins go insane?" When you see one penguin go off on its own walking towards a mountain 80km away, it seems they do.

The film is good and it made me wonder why we don't hear of more information (and images) coming from Antarctica. My only complaint was that I found the music annoying.

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