Today's Weekly Checkup continues the theme of sharing videos with you. I have two documentaries that have been on my mind throughout the Pandemic. Partly because they cover cabin fever and enduring difficult times, but also because they are hauntingly beautiful.
Both deal with experiences in Antarctica.
One was created by a professional photographer who worked there; the other by an internationally acclaimed director who wanted to experience it before it disappears.
One has inspired my wife to visit; the other has encouraged me to continue dreaming.
So, please enjoy!
(Because I love maps, especially older ones!)
According to its IMDB page, the documentary took over 15 years to make. According to my wife, it is the reason why she added a visit to Antarctica to her bucket list, which means I am going, too. (Movies do that to her: we are going to visit Japan because of Lost in Translation, and Mars because of Total Recall). The documentary does an effective job conveying the awesome terror and beauty of this isolated continent. It also shares the strange, but courageous and dedicated people who work on the various bases throughout the year, including the winter period. To see people willingly endure three months of the most brutal cold and suffocating darkness, with no hope of escaping during that time, is amazing and comforting. It is well worth watching, even if you do not like movies about nature.
For the record, I think I could survive a year there.
"There's a saying among the women of Antarctica, 'The odds are good, but the goods are odd.'" (I think I would fit right in).
Encounters at the End of the World (2007)
Werner Herzog is one of those people whom I probably should know more about, but whose work I have not had an opportunity to enjoy, mostly because I do not know many people who would be interested in his accomplishments. I do remember a former student dropping his name once or twice, and not knowing whom she was talking about. His movies impressed her, and I considered her a highly intelligent and creative student, so the name was stored in my memory. Then, while trying to find information on Antarctica: A Year on Ice (actually, I was trying to remember the documentary's title, so I googled "documentaries on Antarctica"), I found another documentary with Herzog's name attached to it. So my interest was piqued. Fortunately, it was available on Netflix, and I decided to watch it one evening. I am so glad I did.
The cinematography is surreal, as is Herzog's voice. He takes you to a place on Earth, and reminds you that humans do in fact live there (he starts off by interviewing maintenance workers). You need that anchor, because he then takes you on an incredible journey. Whether it's the ice fields that cover the continent, or the underwater world beneath the floating ice offshore, you feel transported beyond our world. You feel his joy and wonder as he marvels at all the frozen bareness, but also the dark, isolated places touched by brave creatures. And you feel his sorrow that this frozen planet on Earth will someday melt away.
Encounters at the End of the World is definitely a movie worth watching when you need to escape, or need to feel alive, but want to do so while still learning something worthwhile.
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