Encounters at the End of the World
December 2008 Reviewed by: Rad Bennett Format: Blu-ray	(all ratings out of 5): Overall Enjoyment Picture Quality Packaged Extras Sound Quality

Director Werner Herzog has recently wandered into the mainstream with Grizzly Man and Rescue Dawn, but his heart remains independent. He makes movies about things that interest him, subjects about which he can be passionate, rather than please producers to make more money. He has made as many documentaries as he has fiction films, a fact that puts him in a very unique niche. For this movie he traveled to Antarctica, and at the McMurdo Research Station, which served as a center for the filmmakers, he met many appealing eccentrics who must have given him joy since he himself is one of a kind.

The encounters referred to in the title are of several kinds. One is with the unique citizens of Antarctica, another is with its nature population, and still another is with the unique geography of the least habitable continent of Earth. Many of the people he meets are refugees from other lives, or adventurers who would be unhappy if life was not a challenge. One man was a banker but now drives an enormous bus, one of only seven in the world. A woman who has traveled across Africa and gotten herself into more near-death scrapes than one can imagine entertains on talent night at the local bar by having herself zipped into a travel case so that only her hands are left to pull herself along. Another man keeps a kit packed so he can travel instantly. When his pack is opened for the camera, we find there’s even a collapsible kayak inside.

Much of the movie is spent under the ice, where the camera encounters starfish and exotic jellyfish that sport vibrant colors at odds with the awesome coldness of the location. Above ground, Herzog discovers a volcano and the men who study it. And despite his proclaiming at the beginning of the movie that he is not on location to shoot film of cute penguins, he finds a penguin colony where some of the cute females practice prostitution in order to obtain rocks. His journey is not as random as it might seem at first. His philosophical conclusion on encountering man and nature together is that man’s days on Earth are numbered, and like the dinosaurs he will one day be extinct.

The movie was shot at 1080i, so it translates well to Blu-ray. Though any film of this episodic nature is bound to be variable in quality, the sharpness and true colors of this movie are reasonably consistent and impressive. The penguin colony provides black-and-white plumage that seems made to show off HD, but then so do those delicately arranged jellyfish, in a more colorful way. The soundtrack, which is almost completely music alternating with Herzog’s narration, is clear and has excellent dynamic range. The surrounds are used to great effect, but the important sounds are up front.

The most important extra is a commentary track by Herzog, producer Henry Haiser, and cinematographer Peter Zeitlinger. The three not only discuss how the movie was made but talk about life in general in Antarctica. Moving on, there are four featurettes largely made up of outtakes, a theatrical trailer, and an interview with Jonathan Demme and Herzog. The latter covers a lot of ground and is both amusing and moving.

If you’re tired of the usual from Hollywood and looking for something that is just as interesting yet entirely different, this movie should easily fill the bill. Herzog is an individualist, and here he celebrates with others from his tribe. There is no more telling scene in the movie than one where a single penguin is left by the others who are moving left and back to the colony and right to the fishing grounds. This penguin starts walking away into the distance on his own and will not be deterred from seeking his different path.

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