Encounters at the End of the World

Werner Herzog, director of such acclaimed documentaries as Grizzly Man and Little Dieter Needs to Fly, offers his unique perspective on the South Pole in this film profiling the Antarctic community of McMurdo Station. Located on Ross Island, McMurdo Station is the headquarters of the National ...more

Encounters at the End of the World is the cinematic antipode of March of the Penguins, a fact that director Werner Herzog underscores in the early beats of his latest documentary. He includes footage of the tuxedo-hued birds, but rather than emphasizing the creatures’ benign mating rituals, he interviews an eccentric scientist who discusses penguin prostitution and features footage of a lone bird wandering toward “certain death.” Suffice to say that Encounters… is tonally disparate from the ...more

Any filmgoer who's been fortunate enough to have seen director Werner Herzog's best works knows well the poetic power and remarkable mastery of his imagery, pacing, and overall tone. This not only applies to Herzog's narrative features, but -- somewhat uniquely -- to his documentary films as well. In his 2005 documentary Grizzly Man, Herzog painted a fascinating portrait of a true outsider whose unbound passion for nature ultimately brought upon his untimely death. With Encounters at the End of ...more

Encounters at the End of the World
Nominee - 81st Oscars®:
Best Documentary Feature