Encounters at the End of the World

Early on, Werner Herzog announces that his documentary won't feature "fluffy penguins" - and let's be honest, cute critters and Herzog don't really go together. In fact, he seems far more interested in the eclectic bunch of humans who inhabit McMurdo Station. Not the Station itself though, which Herzog despairingly describes as resembling a mining town. One senses the final straw is the presence of an ATM. Herzog can't wait to leave "civilization" and head out in to the wilderness, albeit a wilderness dotted with assorted scientists. Surprisingly few animals appear: some enderaingly fat, indolent seals, unperturbed by the humans surrounding them; multicoloured, wierd and wonderful marine life under the ice; and yes, penguins. Not fluffy penguins, but penguins nonetheless, although Herzog being Herzog hones in on the one little chap who hesitates before waddling off in the opposite direction to his fellow penguins, towards certain death. The taciturn penguin specialist (who clearly prefers the company of penguins to humans) finds himself on the receiving end of some typically Herzog questioning: are penguins gay? (there are threesomes apparently); do they go insane? (unclear) The backstories of the McMurdo humans are every bit as bizarre. Herzog is fascinated by what has driven former bankers and PhD students to abandon their careers and head to the ends of the earth. Many would fit perfectly into any of his fiction films. He also captures some gloriously surreal moments, such as the whiteout training that involves a group of newcomers bumbling around with white buckets on their heads or the guitar-playing biologists rehearsing on a roof or the recording of seals under the ice sounding just like 1970s avant-garde electronica. Only Herzog.