Encounters at the End of the World - Werner Herzog (2007)

At the beginning of the documentary Herzog says he's not going to make a film about fluffy penguins. And he doesn't. His fluffy creatures are human, the strangest of them who end up working in Antarctica. You do wonder how Herzog ends up finding characters who are just as crazy as he is. 

Recently I saw the BBC Frozen Planet series. They also have an episode about people who live in the Arctic and Antarctic regions. But they are so different in so many ways. 

Herzog's documentary isn't just a nature show... it's a story about people. It's human, it's engaging, it's thought-provoking... it's a proper cinema documentary rather than a television one. His characters are very well found. You don't know who's the strangest one and who's your favourite. 

The Frozen Planet is beautifully filmed with all sort of HD technology and slow-motion cameras. Herzog doesn't need all this. Apparently James Cameron wanted to do the project  as well , with 36 people as crew. Herzog won because he only took a cameraman and himself as sound recordist. It's still works very well with a minor budget.

There's also a nice choice of music and sounds. Perhaps because his music collaborator/friend was very involved in the project as he is also an expert diver. The underwater sounds are amazing. One thing I wasn't sure about the Frozen Planet was if the sounds were all dubbed or how were they recorded. I never saw any sign of a sound crew in the making of (and very limited credits) - something that doesn't make sense with the big budget HD photography.

I think the best thing about it is the questions it raises. Why and how do the strangest people end up in such a remote place? Did humans evolve to escape the underwater world? Are we, like dinosaurs, meant to disappear from Earth some time in the future?

Oh! And there are penguins in it after all! Lost  and deranged, just like everyone else in the film.

Encounters at the End of the World