This week we’ll be highlighting three documentaries by our favorite German maestro: Werner Herzog. We begin on a journey to the ends of the earth, as Herzog travels to Antarctica, in Encounters at the End of the World; then travel deep into the earth’s depths, discovering the oldest cave paintings known to man, a monument that only gives us more questions about the passage of time, and the nature of human existence, in Cave of Forgotten Dreams; and finally, we’ll visit inmates of death row, as Herzog probes the nature of murder, capital punishment, and the value of human life in Into the Abyss.
As we journey to Antarctica, Herzog begins his traditionally droll and inquisitive narration by explaining his reasons for coming: that he was not interested in yet another penguin film, but rather, something far more inspired. Let it never be said that Herzog isn’t a man of his word. Upon arriving in McMurdo Station, he immediately becomes fascinated by its residents and their stories of what brought them to this frozen expanse. Many of them are dreamers, people who decided to let go of whatever was holding them in their place on earth, and simply drift to this point of icy convergence. They’re a community of misfits and people looking to make an impact on the world, rather than succumb to the doldrums of being “normal”.
Naturally, Herzog’s preoccupations with man’s communion with nature are out in full force. Once he and his crew are given permission to leave the station, they explore science facilities and the natural world around them. One of the most striking sequences comes when he interviews a crew of divers, who describe going under the ice as “entering the Cathedral”. Certainly, this is an apt description, as the cameras descend into a world so very alien to our own, yet in perfect harmony with the human beings who come with a sense of reverence. It’s a viscerally powerful film about how the world would go on without us around to investigate its mysteries. The sobering truth, it seems, is that it would get along just fine.
Coming back up to dry land, only to then descend into caverns long thought only a myth, Herzog takes us on a journey of discovery to the Chauvet Cave, which contain the oldest cave paintings known to man. The implications of the discovery only add layers to Herzog’s majestic meditation on the passage of time, and how we as human beings can create art that transcends that notion of time as a linear sense of progression. Sparse in its interview content, Herzog conveys his ideas primarily through reverent camera work and narration, splicing in conversations with scientists, philosophers, and variations thereof. As the only film Herzog will ever shoot in 3D, Cave of Forgotten Dreams is worth it alone for the sheer beauty on display.
Making a somewhat uncharacteristic hard right, Herzog then delivers his most “hands-off” documentary yet, Into the Abyss. Foregoing his traditional narration and extensive direction, Herzog instead opts to let the people being interviewed tell the story for him. We hear from an inmate sentenced to death for a triple homicide, a crime he denies responsibility for, as well as the victims’ families and law enforcement officials. Rather than focus on this man’s guilt or innocence, Herzog instead wishes to understand the nature of murder, and whether or not capital punishment is a suitable status quo to continue living in. He provides no definitive answers or opinions, but is intent only on discussion to spark further debate.
As a complete journey, these three films stand as a testament to Herzog’s incomparable career, covering subjects as vastly different as they are universal, probing the way human existence communes with the world we inhabit. If you’re looking for an accessible entry point to understand the filmmaker’s preoccupations, Netflix could not have picked three better films.
