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Encounters at the End of the World (2008)

Rating ... B- (56)

Werner Herzog goes characteristically batshit with Encounters at the End of the World, narrating / rasping to his heart's content over Antarctic adventure. Herzog's journey is inspired by images of pristine beauty in nature and although promptly marred when he arrives in "an ugly mining town with caterpillars and noisy construction" he saves face when his trip metamorphoses into a casual study of human alienation.

Herzog's images are beautiful enough to qualify as nature porn a la Planet Earth but they're also the first step in Herzog's quest to understand isolation. In typical fashion, Herzog depicts nature as heavenly by sprinkling choral music over the proceedings and likening the footage from under-ice diving to being in a cathedral, though others share his opinion. Herzog's talking heads, described figuratively as untethered folks who've fallen apart from society to the bottom of the Earth, often pontificate about rugged spirituality found in nature. (There is obvious favoritism shown to these individuals versus those who venture to Antarctica seeking fame in the civilized world for temporarily braving the elements.)

If you can withstand Herzog's cantakerous bellyaching and hand-wringing about the extinction of obscure languages, technology eliciting vulnerability in the world (why?), and men robbing natural landmarks of their dignity by exploring and conquering them, the remaining commentary is quite poetic. Residents of the south pole are self-described as a group of outsiders unified by their inability to coexist within the societal groups they fled. Herzog interviews them not merely for the nuts and bolts of their job duties in Antarctica but also to discover personal motivation. Seen collectively at a safety training course, Herzog observes visionless participants preparing for no-sight conditions. Because they are linked, when one falls astray it becomes the group's shared fate. In equally pessimistic contrast, Herzog stumbles across surprisingly poignant footage of Psycho Penguin, a penguin suffering from a bout of instinctive mania presumably from prolonged exposure to his peers. The penguin willfully and seemingly for no reason undertakes a headlong trek away from his homeland to certain suicide; Herzog explains scientists have observed the phenomenon before and if apprehended and returned to his colony, the penguin will begin again. Finally, scientists celebrate as they prepare a hi-tech weather balloon capable of detecing neutrinos that appear to be "on another plane" for a solitary journey into the heavens.

As if to further his portrayal on social rupture, unreliable narration seems to play a role in Herzog's film. Herzog could very easily be mistaken for an internet troll as he bashes "fluffy penguin" movies and supercedes the subjects whose stories he deems "go on forever." In one hilarious scene Herzog encounters a Timothy Treadwell-esque recluse and penguin afficionado who graciously permits him an interview. His brief introduction reveals he's not entirely comfortable around other people and not exactly a conversationalist at heart, which makes Herzog's opening salvo all the more inane and priceless. ("DR. AINLEY ... I READ SOMEWHERE THAT THERE ARE GAY PENGUINS. WHAT ARE YOUR OBSERVATIONS?") Call Herzog's experiment at the south pole what you will, but I'm pretty sure this one is double blind.