`End of the World' too big to truly capture.

Byline: Richard Duckett

COLUMN: MOVIE REVIEW

It was an interesting concept to have acclaimed German director Werner Herzog go to Antarctica - to the end of the Earth, if you will - with a free hand to film whatever he wanted.

Of course, credit must go to Herzog for the fact that it was his idea.

Herzog has proved in other documentaries that he's a good interviewer, and in his full-length films he has also has an eye for the unusual and visually poetic ("Nosferatu the Vampyre").

And "Encounters at the End of the World" does have some interesting thoughts from the characters that Herzog meets at the McMurdo Station in Antarctica (basically the only human enclave there of any description), and there are some stunning visuals.

The film, which is making its area premiere as part of the Cinema 320 series at Clark University, is good, in other words. But you also get the nagging feeling that it could have been better. Would the images on the screen been even more striking and haunting if Wim Wenders, another German director with a wonderful eye for atmosphere and aesthetics, had been flown in to McMurdo?

Herzog, however, proves to be an energetic narrator. He says at the beginning of the film that what drew him to Antarctica was some film a friend shot of divers underwater and under icebergs in the vast ice-cold continent. It's a niggling point, but the footage we actually see of the divers doesn't look all that career altering or life changing. But no matter. Let's go.

As soon as Herzog arrives in McMurdo there is a sense of disappointment, but this time it comes directly from director Herzog. As we see, the place is a bit of a dump. But Herzog understands. The place is a research station where all sorts of scientific investigations are going on. It was never intended to be a hotel, but one has to chuckle at Herzog's curmudgeonly observation that it does have "abominations" such as an aerobics center and yoga classes.

It takes a certain sort of person to want to live in Antarctica and work the menial jobs that have to be done there. And Herzog does encounter a few characters in "Encounters at the End of World." They don't fit into any easy categorization such as dreamers or eccentrics. Each is unique, however, and give us something to think about. On the other hand, seeing these sorts of people being interviewed is not a unique documentary experience. It's been done before.

In contrast, the science projects that are going on at McMurdo are somewhat surprising and not necessarily what one would expect. It could be that at the end of the world we'll find out about the earth's origins and its future.

Those are mighty big issues to suddenly encounter. Herzog keeps the plot boiling in the frozen landscape by going to an active volcano where researchers aren't just there for the good of their health. Meanwhile, the spontaneous sculptures that the landscape has thrown up over the centuries courtesy of the volcano are a director and cinematographer's dream.

We know why Herzog wanted to go to Antarctica. But did he leave with a gleaning of what all the sights sounds and interviews might mean?

The material ultimately seems too big for him - as it would, to be fair, to virtually anyone.

Herzog ends his film rather than concluding it. Which is fair enough. But ...

"Encounters at the End of the World" will be shown again in Room 320, Jefferson Academic Center, Clark University, at 7:30 p.m. today and Saturday, and 1 and 3:05 p.m. Sunday.

`Encounters at the End

of the World'

* * *

A THINKFilm release

Rating: G

Running time: 1 hour, 40 minutes

Key to the Stars

* * * * ... Hot Stuff

* * *... Good Job

* * ... Not Bad

* ... Never Mind

ART: PHOTO

CUTLINE: A scene from "Encounters at the End of the World."