I was very disappointed by this film, it seemed like the director got to Antartica and had to find a movie to make, but he never found it. Sure there was great scenery but we've seen these before on television. The commentary by the narrator was too sarcastic for me. This movie went nowhere.
shareIn fact, it's probably my 4th fave of the year (of 4).
I thought it went on a bit too long. The images are fantastic. But I've seen most of them before in previous shows or photo albums. The music? It was ok. The narration? I found it sarcastic and funny at some times and annoying at others. Some of the scientists in Antartica are fun to watch (say interesting things). Most of them bored me. The point of the movie? Existentialism. How unique.
I loved Herzog's 'Grizzly Man'; everything about it. But 'Encounters ...' didn't rivet me like his others films/docs have. 6.5-7ish out of 10.
This is a funny take, seeing as how this is perhaps Herzog's most rigorously structured documentary yet. Seeing as it was a minor disappointment for me, that's not really a benefit in my mind.
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I'm a huge Herzog fan and I found this film a little wanting, frankly. I think he probably could have made two different documentaries with his material -- one on the people, one on the natural world. Instead, its all woven together, interjected with Werner's sometimes tangental opinions of things.
I agree with you, in part. Encounters was poorly edited. There are scenes that go on just a bit too long. I am thinking of the interview with the Latino Pacheco (with the unusual fingers), the scene with the buckets and the scene with the seals' communication. Although each was interesting, they lingered on the screen longer than was necessary.
Encounters meandered and appeared to have no central theme. Perhaps that was intentional on Herzog's part, but I, as a viewer, found it a little frustrating to enjoy. I would love to have got to know the McMurdy locals some more. A whole documentary on the people there would have been very entertaining.
Encounters was good, but by no means great. I say this as a fan of Grizzly Man, which is one of the best documentaries I have ever seen.
THis wasn't a bad movie, I really enjoyed watching it and I love how it felt like a home video but the narrorator seemed to make use of his "Wit" ion a negative way, I felt as though he was ridiculing the interviwees as opposed to actually trying to learn something from them. When the narrorator isn't saying something that seems to be somewhat rude then the editor/director and anyone else involved in the final cut of the film had to show the people out there who came accross as completely insane, stupid or just plain dumb, for example the guy with Aztek royal blood with the fingers? how about the people with their heads pressed to the ice to listen to the seals? which did seem to go on forever with no naration watching people listen. I love nature docs, and must admit I have not seen any of Herzog's previous work, but I feel almost any other film maked could have done a better job with the same topic as this gentleman. Boo-urn Herzog boo-urns!
And on the other hand I did enjoy watching these people treated like they are idiots and being shown as idiots but...nominated for an Oscar?
OP, you couldn't be more wrong about this movie, dude.
There is not a single boring second in this movie. If you find any major faults in this movie, it tells more about you then the movie proper, i'm affraid.
"This are Nice shoes! Couldn't you afford some real Nike?"
I liked a good deal of the commentary, but I am basically in agreement with you. I found it to be a highly cynical film, where the director went there, shot anything that moved (mostly humans -- like we haven't seen those before) and came back with a problem: it's not a film. So he tacked on some cheesy BS at the beginning about how inspired he was by great undersea shots (that far surpass anything he himself was able to capture on film) and some nonsense about why humans ride horses but chimps don't ride goats -- the desperate ramblings someone who knows he hasn't got a story to tell. Frankly, I doubt even editing can save this film. You're stuck with what you shoot, and they just didn't shoot very much that was interesting.
I gave it a 7/10, which is what I give to films that are a good waste of time, but aren't serious or informing in any way. If you go to Antarctica and only come back with a 7, you've utterly failed.
I think it suffers because its a bit shapeless, it could be 30 minutes longer or shorter and it wouldnt really effect the film - theres no structure, just Werner Herzog wondering around Antarctica.
That said, theres some interesting interviews, facts and lovely shots (especially the underwater ones that there should have been more of).
Also i was watching it on the Discovery Channel so the adverts don't help.
Overall its interesting but no 'Grizzly Man'.
I saw this a few months back followed by a Q&A with Herzog and again yesterday.
Although the first time around I did come away with the sense that the film was a bit of a ramble, albeit a consistently interesting one (my initial comment was "what Werner did on his holidays"), the second viewing brought things into focus a bit more. The film is actually an essay on man's place in the universe and the interviews and commentary are all carefully edited to slot into that. The very title of the film has a double meaning that sums it up - the notion is that we are at the end of the world in the geographical sense but also potentially in the historical one (at least so far as Homo Sapiens is concerned). Herzog talked quite a lot during the Q&A about the unsustainability of human existence on the planet and this was also a theme of "Wild Blue Yonder" which uses more of Henry Kaiser's antarctic footage.
You may not agree with his argument, but if you've not even noticed it, you've clearly not understood the film.
As an aside, people who complain that various scenes went on too long probably aren't familiar with Herzog's earlier work. For example one of his standard techniques is to hold the camera on a subject at the end of an interview to see what their reaction is. Holding various shots for much longer than usual is another perennial Herzog technique (shared with many European film-makers of his generation), the idea being to give us a proper opportunity to contemplate what we are seeing and hearing. Those raised on MTV editing may find this boring, but I personally didn't think the seal-call scene went on a moment too long.
I'm not sure it's fair to conclude that Herzog is entirely anti-Enlightenment or anti-science. I think the film shows that he's quite fascinated by the science and by the drive human beings have to understand the universe, however he is sceptical about the limits of human knowledge and certainly doesn't buy into the notion that science will solve all our problems.
Finally, waiting for the DVD would be a serious error. This film has a quite beautiful combination of sound and image and demands to be seen on a proper cinema screen.
I used to want to change the world. Now I just want to leave the room with a little dignity.
He was asked to make a documentary by the Antarctic Research Station and they paid for it (by his own account he was happy to do it anyway), which is why he directed, edited and narrated it himself. There wasn't any intention to make it a release, but I suppose if you've gone to all that expense then you might as well get some money back.
In summary - neither the producers or the director is not looking for anyone's approval or critique for this film - just a recording excercise for information only
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I don't know what it is, but its weird and pissed off!