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Encounters at the End of the World
2008 · Film · documentary · 99 min
Directed by Werner Herzog
Acclaimed filmmaker Werner Herzog travels to Antarctica, where he finds a desolate, beautiful landscape, largely untouched by human hands, and a group of truly unique people who risk their lives to study it. Centered at McMurdo Station, the United States' largest Antarctic research center, Herzog explores the minds of the scientists willing to abandon civilization and endure volatile conditions to learn more about the continent's wildlife and awe-inspiring natural wonders.
11 positivefrom 11 commenters
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12 comments on Hacker News
The aforementioned Lessons of Darkness is obligatory, but as I said, it is less a documentary than a kind of audiovisual poem. The footage is incredible [1].
Of his "straight" documentaries, Encounters at the End of the World is great. It's a film about the people who live at McMurdo Station in Antarctica. Like his other biographical documentaries, it mixes quirky people and humour with brutally realist view of the world, all to great photography and music.
The Fire Within [3], his 2022 documentary on the popular volcanologists Katia and Maurice Krafft, is wonderful. It's a superior companion piece to his earlier films about volcanos (Herzog really likes volcanoes), Into the Inferno and La Soufriere.
Of his fiction films, you can't avoid Aguirre, Wrath of God or Fitzcarraldo. But a personal favourite of mine among his 1970s films is Heart of Glass [4], a quirky and beautiful retelling of a Bavarian folk tale, set in the 1700s.
[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pHfVnM_duRg
[2] https://letterboxd.com/film/encounters-at-the-end-of-the-world/
[3] https://letterboxd.com/film/the-fire-within-requiem-for-katia-and-maurice-krafft/
[4] https://letterboxd.com/film/heart-of-glass/
If you're interested in the people and personalities and activities at the South Pole, the Werner Herzog film Encounters at the End of the World is a revealing and interesting documentary. It includes a fascinating part about a deluded penguin choosing to leave its flock and begin a fatal journey towards the center of the island...
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Encounters_at_the_End_of_the_World
- https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1093824/
Criminals, no. But Werner Herzog's documentary on people that work at the research station (Encounters at The End of the World) paints a fascinating picture of the people that decide to basically leave modern society for months/years at a time. You definitely have to be a special type of person and even a borderline social outcast to make it a regular job.
One of the researchers he interviews about it describes how he lives life with no real home and always has a bag packed with enough essentials to go hike out into the wilderness anywhere in the world--Herzog asks to see the bag and the person happily pulls out an enormous pack and starts pulling out stuff like an inflatable pack raft, stoves, tents, etc. The big point is that you have to be a special kind of person that's not really attached to modern society to go live and work at the end of the world.
I really like Werner Herzog. Too many good ones to list them all here. He brings in a lot of social implications of whatever subject he covers. A lot of randomness as well which is often quite funny. E.g. Encounters at the end of the world or Lo and behold: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lo_and_Behold,_Reveries_of_the_Connected_World
Petter Mettler is a great film maker imo, e.g. Picture of Light, due to the poetic and philosophical elements mixed in with actual documentation. Visually very appealing: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Picture_of_Light
Another favorite film maker is Stanislav Mucha who covers a lot of European topics and in particular German. Very ironic and partly sarcastic. Favs are Absolute Warhola, a film about Andy Warhol's extended family in Slovakia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Absolut_Warhola
Also, The Truth about Dracula is very interesting and funny: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1621024/
Actually that would be the worst reason to live on another planet.
Take your average totalitarian state. Say China. Multiply times 10.
That would be what living on another planet will be like.
It wont be some pristine unexplored planet, where you'd be let to go settle anywhere you like, explorer style.
At least not on the solar system.
It would be something like a small, tightly controlled, and highly co-dependent colony, where everyone must stick together. There will be less room, no places to just roam (except with your suit and air). Away from the food, air, generators etc, would be mostly death. Oh, and at least for the first decades the government and/or some big corporation will select who goes and who can't go.
And everybody will be monitored 24/7, first because it would be made with high tech, which can just as easily include tracking chips, smart doors, cameras, and so on, and because if anybody goes crazy/suicidal and does something stupid, they can get everybody killed easily (e.g. sabotage something)...
If you want that kind of freedom of being deviant you'd be much more likely to get it in Alaska, Antarctica, Siberia, and so on, than in another planet we're going to go anytime soon...
(Herzog's documentary "Encounters at the end of the world" alludes to that, and shows some such types https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-0KzBHJLQ80 ).
Encounters at the End of the World is an entertaining documentary about the people and circumstances of living on Antarctica. If you’re curious about life on the ice and the researchers and people make up the society there.
> https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Encounters_at_the_End_of_the_World
I would recommend Kevin Kelly's website truefilms.com for a great list of documentaries on a large variety of topics. No matter what your interests are you're sure to find something interesting on here.
Werner Herzog has produced a number of fascinating documentaries that are just as good as his fictional films in my opinion. Wings of Hope, Encounters at the End of the World, Cave of Forgotten Dreams, Grizzly Man--he has an enormous talent for drawing profound, almost mythical ideas out of the subjects he captures. He's not for everyone, certainly, but his films have a unique vision you don't often see in documentaries.
I'll have to watch this one. I enjoy Herzog's movies, especially the documentaries he narrates.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cave_of_Forgotten_Dreams
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Encounters_at_the_End_of_the_World
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Into_the_Abyss_%28film%29
For one, I simply like hearing his voice I think. But of course he is a good director as well. There is something different about his approach, and it seems he is more passionate about the topics, he goes all in and becomes rather obsessed about stuff. He also appears compassionate towards his subjects. In his documentaries about the capital punishment, for example, he tried not to take sides or be accusatory, at least not in an obvious in your face type way.
Along these lines is the (wonderful) Werner Herzog documentary, Encounters at the End of the World.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Encounters_at_the_End_of_the_World
Werner Herzog has made a number of excellent documentaries. Here are a few of them with brief summaries.
Lessons of Darkness: the aftermath of the first Gulf War in Kuwait.
Little Dieter Wants to Fly: A young German emigrates to the USA, become a Navy pilot, and is shot down in Vietnam. He escapes and lives to tell the tale. Herzog later re-made this as Rescue Dawn, but the original version is better.
Encounters at the End of the World: Herzog travels to Antarctica.
My Best Fiend: Herzog recounts his movie-making with Klaus Kinski. (For the counterpoint, read Kinski's autobiography, "Kinski Uncut.)
The White Diamond: an experimental zeppelin flies over Guyana.
Grizzly Man: Bear aficionado gets too close and is eaten. Herzog assembled this one from the aficonado's footage and narrates.
Out of all of these, I'd rate "Dieter" as the best.
I've recently enjoyed several episodes of the Vanguard series. There are full episodes of the first 3 seasons available on YouTube:
http://current.com/shows/vanguard/
http://www.youtube.com/show?p=8NtSYAZY9Y8&s=3
On a similar note, The Vice Guide to Travel:
http://www.vbs.tv/watch/the-vice-guide-to-travel
Adam Curtis is the creator of various interesting pieces. Some of his documentaries are mentioned in this thread:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam_Curtis
I've also enjoyed many of Werner Herzog's films.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Werner_Herzog#Filmography
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Encounters_at_the_End_of_the_World
The Yes Men are quite entertaining.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Yes_Men_Fix_the_World
http://theyesmenfixtheworld.com/
Man on Wire.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Man_on_Wire
Cocaine Cowboys.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cocaine_cowboys
They have bus drivers. Check out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Encounters_at_the_End_of_the_World
Interesting documentary.
I've always wanted to go down there. There's even a few couchsurfers down there