Encounters at the End of the World
One might wonder about the title of this film: why the end of the world, and not the end of the earth?
Herzog's latest documentary to be released on DVD, with Antartica as its subject, explores not only the mysterious icy expanse, but also broaches the thorny topic of climate change; thankfully, without being apocalyptic, hysterical or preachy.
Antarctica bears traces of man's destructive impact on the planet, while at the same time retaining pristine elements.
There are typical Herzog elements present: the transportation into a completely different, sometimes bizarre world, Herzog's own distinctive, low-key narration and the occasional oblique, slightly dark humour. And, of course, that intrepid spirit of his, behind films such as Fitzcarraldo and Aguirre, the Wrath of God.
As we would expect, this is not a by-the-book doco about Antarctica. From his consideration of the adventurous spirit, to the heartbreaking footage of a disoriented penguin; an interview on the precipice of a volcano crater, and a bunch of eccentric characters who are low on oxygen, Encounters at the End of the World is an engrossing sojourn to a part of the earth with truly "other-worldly" phenomena, replete with geological, biological and even human oddities.
At one point in the film, Herzog ponders what might become of the planet, and what alien species might surmise about mankind from the evidence they discover after our destruction.
Finally, the music during the closing credits sounds like a cross between sounds that one might hear while diving under the ice of Antarctica, and the sound effects from a sci-fi film.