BRANAGH ON ICE A&E HAS EXPLORER ERNEST SHACKLETON'S ANTARCTIC TALE DOWN COLD.Byline: DAVID David, in the Bible David, d. c.970 B.C., king of ancient Israel (c.1010–970 B.C.), successor of Saul. The Book of First Samuel introduces him as the youngest of eight sons who is anointed king by Samuel to replace Saul, who had been deemed a failure. KRONKE TV Critic EIGHTY YEARS after his death, Ernest Shackleton Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton CVO, OBE (15 February 1874 – 5 January 1922) was an Irish explorer who was knighted for the success of the 1907-09 "British Antarctic Expedition" under his command. is arguably ar·gu·a·ble adj. 1. Open to argument: an arguable question, still unresolved. 2. That can be argued plausibly; defensible in argument: three arguable points of law. more famous now than at any time during his life. He never realized his singular goal - to reach the South Pole South Pole, southern end of the earth's axis, lat. 90° S. It is distinguished from the south magnetic pole. The South Pole was reached by Roald Amundsen, a Norwegian explorer, in 1911. See Antarctica. - but what he did manage was in many ways even more unbelievable. His first expedition turned back a mere 97 miles from its quest; as he explained to his wife, ``I thought you'd rather have a live donkey than a dead lion.'' His second attempt - which forms the basis of A&E's grandly impressive miniseries ``Shackleton'' - endured even worse misery than the first. Yet despite the fact that his crew was stranded in the Antarctic for two miserable years, he was able to preserve the lives of 53 of his 56 crew members; some even returned with him in 1922, the voyage that claimed his life. Writer-director Charles Sturridge, filming in Greenland and Iceland under circumstances that must have been challenging at best, has created an epic tale, crammed with old-fashioned boys'-yarn adventure and awe-inspiring scenic vistas. And he found the perfect Shackleton in Kenneth Branagh - both men boast something of the ham, and they even look slightly like one another. Branagh's wry intelligence transforms his Shackleton into a formidable character, one physically incapable of conceding defeat. The film opens with Shackleton feeding off his fame for his 1909 trek to the Antarctic, then deciding he must venture once more into the breach - life as a mere businessman was all emptiness for him. There are witty sequences in which Shackleton interviews men of dubious heroism to accompany him on his second expedition, as well as selling the idea to sponsors and patrons, not an easy thing to do as World War I burbles on the horizon. He explains his voyage to one wealthy woman using teaspoons and scones, and sells sundry sponsorships and the film rights, which don't even belong to him. (Shackleton is enjoying his posthumous post·hu·mous adj. 1. Occurring or continuing after one's death: a posthumous award. 2. Published after the writer's death: a posthumous book. 3. renaissance thanks to the starkly breathtaking photography of Frank Hurley, whose footage has been used in several recent documentaries and filled a number of coffee-table books.) Naming his ship the Endurance after his family motto - ``By endurance, we conquer'' - he disembarks with his crew in 1914, the fate of the world war a vexing question mark. The Endurance gets trapped in vast sheets of ice, as captured in dazzling imagery, and is eventually crushed to splinters under the unforgiving shifts of the mighty ice shelves. Leaving most of his crew behind, and forced to shoot the dogs brought along for the mission, Shackleton treks through the barren frigidity frigidity /fri·gid·i·ty/ (fri-jid´i-te) 1. coldness. 2. former name for female sexual arousal disorder. fri·gid·i·ty n. and weathers harsh waters in hopes of locating a whaling whaling, the hunting of whales for the oil that can be rendered from their flesh, for meat, and for baleen (whalebone). Historically, whale oil was economically the most important. Early Whaling Whaling for subsistence dates to prehistoric times. community on the other side of the continent. Sturridge, whose previous work includes the acclaimed ``Brideshead Revisited,'' ``Longitude'' and ``Fairy Tale fairy tale Simple narrative typically of folk origin dealing with supernatural beings. Fairy tales may be written or told for the amusement of children or may have a more sophisticated narrative containing supernatural or obviously improbable events, scenes, and personages : A True Story,'' proves to be exactly the right man for this daunting daunt tr.v. daunt·ed, daunt·ing, daunts To abate the courage of; discourage. See Synonyms at dismay. [Middle English daunten, from Old French danter, from Latin project. He imbues his film with a smart, epigrammatic ep·i·gram·mat·ic also ep·i·gram·mat·i·cal adj. 1. Of or having the nature of an epigram. 2. Containing or given to the use of epigrams. screenplay - there's a wonderful sequence in which Shackleton and Hurley (Matt Day), forced to destroy many of his photographic plates, pick and choose among them with fond if sardonic appreciation - and a gripping visual sense of how wrenching the expedition was (a man's toes are amputated in grisly gris·ly adj. gris·li·er, gris·li·est Inspiring repugnance; gruesome. See Synonyms at ghastly. [Middle English grisli, from Old English grisl close-up). Production designer Michael Howells handsomely replicates both the Endurance and England in the 19-teens, and relies on nature's brutal beauty for the rest of the film's staggering visuals. On Monday, before the second half of the miniseries, ``Biography'' will present the Cliffs Notes version of Shackleton's life. It's efficiently informative, but for the full richness of the human drama, Sturridge's miniseries is must viewing. SHACKLETON - Three and one half stars What: Kenneth Branagh stars in this miniseries on the intrepid Irish explorer who charted Antarctica in the early 1900s. Where: A&E. When: 8 tonight; 9 p.m. Monday. ERNEST SHACKLETON: LOOKING SOUTH - Two and one half stars What: ``Biography'' presentation on the explorer. Where: A&E. When: 8 p.m. Monday. CAPTION(S): photo Photo: Sled dogs ultimately represent more than just transportation for a disastrous expedition to Antarctica in A&E's miniseries ``Shackleton,'' beginning tonight. |
|
||||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion