Encounters at the End of the World (2007)

User Rating:

7.8/10   

Director:

Werner Herzog

Writer:

Werner Herzog (written by)

Release Date:

17 October 2008 (Spain)

Genre:

Documentary

Plot:

Filmmaker Werner Herzog travels to Antarctica to capture its landscape's rarely seen beauty on film.

Plot Keywords:

Penguin | Antarctica | Mountain | Hand | Bucket

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 3 nominations

Cast

David Ainley	...	Marine Ecologist
Samuel S. Bowser	...	Cell Biologist
Regina Eisert	...	Physiologist
Kevin Emery	...	McMurdo Station Survival School Instructor
Ryan Andrew Evans	...	McMurdo Station Cook
Ashrita Furman	...	Multiple World Record Holder
Peter Gorham	...	Physicist - University of Hawaii
Werner Herzog	...	Narrator
William Jirsa	...	McMurdo Station Linguist - Computer Expert
Karen Joyce	...	Computer Expert
Doug MacAyeal	...	McMurdo Station Glaciologist (as Douglas MacAyeal)
William McIntosh	...	Volcanologist - Geochronologist
Olav T. Oftedal	...	Nutritional Ecologist
Clive Oppenheimer	...	Volcanologist
David R. Pacheco Jr.	...	McMurdo Journeyman Plumber
Stefan Pashov	...	McMurdo Station Forklift Driver
Jan Pawlowski	...	Zoologist
Scott Rowland	...	McMurdo Station Transportation Dept
Libor Zicha	...	McMurdo Station Utility Mechanic

Runtime:

99 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

USA:G | Canada:G (Alberta/British Columbia/Manitoba/Ontario/Québec) | Netherlands:6 | Singapore:G

Filming Locations:

Antarctica

Company:

Discovery Films

Quotes:

Narrator: The National Science Foundation invited me even though I made it clear I would not be making another movie about penguins.

Movie Connections:

Features Them! (1954)

Soundtrack:

Planino Stara Planino Mari

Not another movie about penguins.

My school recently sponsored a screening of this film with Werner Herzog himself in attendance. Herzog joked with the audience that part of his ambition to make this film was because he wanted to document the Antarctic without making "another movie about penguins." And although a portion of the movie DOES contain a segment about penguins, it plays a minor role in a film of many elements which compose a curious and beautiful documentary. It is a study of both Nature and Man: by turns breathtaking in its landscape (especially the underwater photography), at other times funny and serious, as Herzog interviews the motley crew of individuals who call Antarctica home for the greater part of the year. Herzog narrates the film with a tongue-in-cheek sense of humor, yet always maintains respect for the subjects he covers. While he quipped with us afterward that this is not your typical Discovery Channel fare, he said he hopes to broadcast this film sometime on Discovery early next year. If that is the case, it is not a documentary anyone should miss.