Goose Egg Marathon Film #41 - BONUS!Encounters at the End of the World(2008, Werner Herzog
"I think that's a logical place to find each other...This place almost works as a natural selection for people that have this intention to jump off the margin of the map"Since beginning to record and catalog my thoughts on this forum a year ago, I've begun to notice a trend in the films I love: an obsession with a singular character or theme. Just from my top 25: Synecdoche, NY, Close Encounters, JFK. I mean, my #12 is Adaptation - a film about the very concept of obsession.
In Werner Herzog's documentary Encounters at the End of the World, we have a theme and location mined for all its wealth: The continent of Antarctica - the good and the bad - the character of the land, and the characters on the land. Not only do we get to enjoy the subjects of his examination but we are also audience to the character of the obsessor himself: Herzog.
I love his choices. I love that when he interviews a character he keeps the camera running for a minute - so we can see the facade and pretence break down if only fleetingly.
I love that he goes to find penguins and - instead of examining their norms, he analyzes the fringes of their society.
Best of all, we get TIME to take it all in. I feel like I visited there. As many documentaries as I've seen from Antarctica, how many took a moment to talk about the bowling alley?
Great doc. You can't count me as the newest Herzog fan
Verdict:
I'm finding myself quite obsessed with the things Herzog gets obsessed about. Brilliant documentary.
Grade: A+