Encounters at the End of the World (2007)

Filmmaker Werner Herzog travels to Antarctica, looking to capture its natural beauty and investigate the characters there.

Director:

Werner Herzog

Writer:

Werner Herzog

Stars:

Werner Herzog, Scott Rowland, Stefan Pashov

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 2 wins & 6 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Werner Herzog	...	Narrator
Scott Rowland	...	Himself - Transportation Dept.
Stefan Pashov	...	Himself - Philosopher, Forklift Driver
Doug MacAyeal	...	Himself - Glaciologist (as Douglas MacAyeal)
Ryan Andrew Evans	...	Himself - Filmmaker, Cook (as Ryan A. Evans)
Kevin Emery	...	Himself - Survival School Instructor
Olav T. Oftedal	...	Himself - Nutritional Ecologist
Regina Eisert	...	Herself - Physiologist
David R. Pacheco Jr.	...	Himself - Journeyman Plumber
Samuel S. Bowser	...	Himself - Cell Biologist
Jan Pawlowski	...	Himself - Zoologist
William Jirsa	...	Himself - Linguist, Computer Expert
Karen Joyce	...	Herself - Traveler, Computer Expert
Libor Zicha	...	Himself - Utility Mechanic
Ashrita Furman	...	Himself - Multiple World Record Holder

Storyline

Werner Herzog takes his camera to Antarctica where we meet the odd men and women who have dedicated their lives to furthering the cause of science in treacherous conditions. A scientist studies neutrinos, which are everywhere, yet elusive; he likens them to spirits. A researcher's nighttime performance art includes contorting her body into a luggage bag. A survival guide teaches his students to survive white-out conditions by wearing cartoon-face buckets over their heads. Animal researchers milk mother seals as part of their study. Volcanologists offer advice on what to do when a volcano erupts. A pipefitter shows us the anomaly in his hands that he says are a sign he descended from Atzec royalty. A former Colorado banker drives what he has christened Ivan the Terra Bus. An underwater diver shows his colleagues DVDs of apocalyptic sci-fi films like Them!. And -- though Herzog declares he's not "making another film about penguins" -- we meet a penguin researcher who answers the ...

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Plot Keywords:

penguin | antarctica | luggage | hand | volcanologist | 

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Genres:

Documentary

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Certificate:

G

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English Spanish

Release Date:

17 October 2008 (Spain)

Also Known As:

Rencontres au bout du monde

Filming Locations:

Antarctica

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

$17,730 (USA) (13 June 2008)

Gross:

$943,934 (USA) (31 October 2008)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Discovery Films, Creative Differences Productions, Discovery Channel

Technical Specs

Runtime:

99 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Werner Herzog has disclosed that the scene of scientists putting their ears to the ice to listen to seal calls was entirely staged. Herzog asked them to position themselves according to his directions, and the sounds were previously recorded through underwater microphones by sound artist Douglas Quin.

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Quotes

Werner Herzog: In the stupid trend of academia, it would be better to let the language die than to preserve it.

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Connections

Edited from Them! (1954)

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Soundtracks

"Retche Gospod Gospodevi Moyemu"
Performed by Alexander Sedov

User Reviews

A truly beautiful look at Antarctica and the fascinating people who work there

I had a chance to see Werner Herzog's latest documentary at the Telluride Film Festival, where it received great buzz and very high praise upon its debut. Herzog informed the audience that he was shown some footage taken by a photographer in Antarctica while doing post-production on Grizzly Man and he was immediately entranced by what he saw. From this he was compelled to visit the continent and shoot some footage of his own, which became Encounters at the End of the World.

The film perfectly balances both gorgeous footage of the continent as well as fascinating interviews and anecdotes of the many researchers and workers of the McMurdo research station. There are many humorous moments, such as a scene in which visitors must go through a follow-the-leader type exercise before being allowed to venture out into the wild. Participants in the exercise must wear buckets adorned with ridiculous caricatures over their heads in order to simulate a whiteout. They must then try to follow each other as a group and find a researcher a distance away. Herzog simply observes as the participants fail over and over to find the researcher, which left the audience laughing for minutes on end. Another excellent scene has Herzog interviewing an expert on penguins, who goes into some of their more bizarre behavior, such when penguins go insane. In both cases, Herzog features striking footage and amusing interviews and narration.

The film fits in well with Herzog's already substantial canon. It is a beautiful look at a beautiful continent populated by a forklift driver with a PhD, a woman who once traveled to South America in a sewage pipe on the back of a truck, researchers who play electric guitars on top of research station to celebrate discovering three new species of aquatic life in one day, and many more. Their stories converge where all the lines on the map meet at the end of the world. Herzog shot the film with a crew of just himself and the camera operator, and the result is a film with some of the most beautiful footage I've ever seen. Do not miss this when it receives general release!