Encounters at the End of the World

Encounters at the End of the World
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Werner Herzog
Produced by	Henry Kaiser[1]
Music by	Henry Kaiser David Lindley[1]
Cinematography	Peter Zeitlinger[1]
Editing by	Joe Bini[1]
Distributed by	THINKFilm
Running time	99 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English

Encounters at the End of the World is a documentary film by Werner Herzog completed in 2007. The film studies people and places in Antarctica. The film was released in North America on June 11, 2008 and distributed by THINKFilm.^[2]

Contents 1 Synopsis 2 Production 3 Release 4 Critical reception 5 Awards 6 References 7 External links

Synopsis

Herzog and cinematographer Peter Zeitlinger go to Antarctica to meet people who live and work there, and to capture footage of the continent's unique locations. Herzog's voiceover narration explains that his film will not be a typical Antarctica film about "fluffy penguins", but will explore the dreams of the people and the landscape. They begin at McMurdo Station and interview some maintenance and support workers, as well as iceberg geologist Douglas MacAyeal. They travel next to a nearby seal camp supervised by zoologist Olav Oftedal. Next they join producer Henry Kaiser at his diving camp, and interview cell biologist Samuel Bowser and zoologist Jan Pawlowski. Kaiser and Bowser stage a rooftop guitar concert.

Herzog and Zeitlinger return to McMurdo for some more interviews, and visit the preserved original base of Ernest Shackleton. After some brief footage at the South Pole, Herzog interviews penguin scientist David Ainley. This footage includes a shot of a penguin marching in the wrong direction, walking to a certain death in the barren interior of the continent.

Herzog and Zeitlinger next visit Mount Erebus, and interview volcanologists. A strange sequence follows which was shot in tunnels deep below the station carved from snow and ice. Various trinkets and mementos, including a can of Russian caviar and a whole frozen sturgeon, are placed in carved-out shelves in the ice walls, and preseved by the extremely cold and dry air. On the slope of the volcano, Herzog and Zeitlinger explore inside ice caves formed by fumaroles.

The film next visits the launch of a hot-air balloon used in a neutrino detection project run by physicist Peter Gorham. The film concludes with some philosophical words from a maintenance worker, and more footage from the fumarole ice caves and Kaiser's dives.

Production

Herzog was drawn to Antarctica after viewing underwater footage filmed by Henry Kaiser. Kaiser was working on music for Herzog's Grizzly Man and was showing the footage to a friend when Herzog noticed it.^[3] Kaiser had been to Antarctica on scientific diving expeditions, as well as with the National Science Foundation's Antarctic Artists and Writers Program for his "Slide Guitar Around the World" project.^[4] Within two years, Herzog had released The Wild Blue Yonder, which made prominent use of Kaiser's footage.

The film was shot in Antarctica as part of the National Science Foundation's Antarctic Artists and Writers Program.^[5] The entire film crew consisted of Herzog, who recorded all production sound, and cinematographer Peter Zeitlinger. The two went to Antarctica without any opportunity to plan filming locations or interview subjects, and had only seven weeks to conceive and shoot their footage. Herzog often met his interview subjects only minutes before he began shooting them.^[6]

Filming in Antarctica is usually overseen by the National Science Foundation's media office, which approves and supervises all film productions. Because of Herzog's grant from the Artists and Writers Program, he was allowed to film with no minders or oversight from the NSF. This allowed them to film the "seal-bagging" footage, which is not typically deemed suitable for public release.^[3]

The sound recordings of the seals were produced by Douglas Quin, another recipient of the Antarctic Artists and Writers grant.^[3]

The film is dedicated to American critic Roger Ebert.^[7]

Release

The film showed at the 2007 Telluride Film Festival,^[8] and had its official premiere^[9] one week later on September 10 at the Toronto International Film Festival.^[1]

The film showed at 28th Mar 2008, Hong Kong Cultural Centre, for 2008 Hong Kong International Film Festival; and on April 30 at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Film Festival.

Critical reception

The film received generally positive reviews from critics. As of June 13, 2008, the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reported that 96% of critics gave the film positive reviews, based on 24 reviews — with the consensus that the film "offers a poignant study of the human psyche amid haunting landscapes."^[10] Metacritic reported the film had an average score of 80 out of 100, based on 25 reviews.^[11]

Awards

Encounters at the End of the World won the award for Best Documentary at the Edinburgh International Film Festival and Special Price at Planet Doc Review Festival in Warsaw (both in the same year 2008).

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d e} Film details at the 2007 Toronto International Film Festival
2. ^ The Hollywood Reporter
3. ^ ^{a b c} Herzog, Kaiser, Zeitlinger, DVD audio commentary for Encounters at the End of the World
4. ^ "Slide Guitar & Exorcism @ The South Pole", featurette on DVD release of Encounters at the End of the World
5. ^ Antarctic Artists and Writers Program for 2006
6. ^ Werner Herzog: "Tell me about the
   iceberg, tell me about your dreams." :: rogerebert.com :: People
7. ^ Roger Ebert, A letter to Werner Herzog
8. ^ Program of the 2007 Telluride Film Festival
9. ^ Official screening times
10. ^ "Encounters at the End of the World Movie Reviews, Pictures - Rotten Tomatoes". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved on 2008-06-13.
11. ^ "Encounters at the End of the World (2008): Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved on 2008-06-13.

External links

• Official site
• Encounters at the End of the World at the Internet Movie Database
• Encounters at the End of the World at Rotten Tomatoes
• Encounters at the End of the World at Metacritic

• Encounters at the End of the World at Box Office Mojo
• Encounters at the End of the World at Allmovie
• Review by interviewee Bill Jirsa
• THINKFilm

v • d • e Films directed by Werner Herzog 1960s Herakles (1962) • Game in the Sand (1964) • The Unprecedented Defence of the Fortress Deutschkreuz (1967) • Last Words (1967) • Signs of Life (1968) • The Flying Doctors of East Africa (1969) Precautions Against Fanatics (1969) 1970s Even Dwarfs Started Small (1970) • Handicapped Future (1971) • Land of Silence and Darkness (1971) • Fata Morgana (1971) • Aguirre, the Wrath of God (1972) • The Great Ecstasy of Woodcarver Steiner (1974) • The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser (1974) • Heart of Glass (1976) • No One Will Play With Me (1976) • How Much Wood Would a Woodchuck Chuck (1976) • Stroszek (1977) • La Soufrière (1977) • Nosferatu the Vampyre (1978) • Woyzeck (1978) 1980s Huie's Sermon (1981) • God's Angry Man (1981) • Fitzcarraldo (1982) • Ballad of the Little Soldier (1984) • The Dark Glow of the Mountains (1984) • Where the Green Ants Dream (1984) • Portrait Werner Herzog (1986) • Cobra Verde (1987) • The French as seen by... (1988) • Wodaabe - Herdsmen of the Sun (1989) 1990s Film Lesson 1-4 (1990) • Echoes From a Somber Empire (1990) • Jag Mandir (1991) • Scream of Stone (1991) • Lessons of Darkness (1992) • Bells from the Deep (1993) • The Transformation of the World Into Music (1994) • Gesualdo: Death for Five Voices (1995) • Little Dieter Needs to Fly (1997) • The Lord and the Laden (1999) • My Best Fiend (1999) 2000s Wings of Hope (2000) • Invincible (2001) • Pilgrimage (2001) • Ten Minutes Older (2002) • Wheel of Time (2003) • The White Diamond (2004) • Grizzly Man (2005) • The Wild Blue Yonder (2005) • Rescue Dawn (2007) • Encounters at the End of the World (2007) • Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans (2009)

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