Review of Encounters at the End of the World (2007) by Daniel K — 10 Feb 2009

Herzog is such a strange and funny person. He is also a brilliant and masterful filmmaker. He shows us a version of Antarctica and life as we've never quite seen it before. The underwater footage appears far less spectacular out of the context of his film for instance.

He seems to be curious about everything and simply let his curiousity and his passion guide him. He is also an amazingly odd and insightful interviewer. He asks questions most wouldn't. If a question has an obvious answer, he will ask it anyway simply to find out what happens.

He keeps the camera on his subjects long after prudence and decency would normally call for or allow. This is part of his genius. By simply having patience for life he is able to capture moments and images that are invisible to the rest of us, or simply don't exist in our realities.

He allows life to simply emerge on film and manages to coax more of it out than most are able to. His narration is absolutely integral to the film of course, but his personality equally pervades his nonfiction.

Every film he makes is completely unique and completely Herzog. There is no mistaking him for any other director. I will always associate him with Wenders and Fassbinder, but the three men's films bear practically no resemblance to one another.

Herzog takes us places no one else does. He is not afraid to live on the edge either. I absolutely hated the last Herzog film I saw, The Wild Blue Yonder, but I absolutely loved this. I expected to enjoy it, but not as much as I did.

There are scenes and moments that are transcendent in their brilliance. I added oner of the water sequences to my short list of all time favorite scenes, but the film has so many powerful moments it was a bit difficult to pin down just one.

This is definitely be the best advertisement the NSF has ever had their hand in.