In a recent interview discussing his 2008 documentary Encounters at the End of the World, Werner Herzog reveals that his bid for film funding from the National Science Foundation triumphed over a rival proposal by director James Cameron. Cameron had planned to take a crew of 36 to Antarctica, while Herzog suggested a team of two, himself included. Herzog estimates that the cost of maintaining a working person in such a remote location is approximately $10,000 per day, since even "one leaf of salad has to be flown eight hours from New Zealand." One wonders whether Cameron's team might have played up the eco credentials of the resulting film, despite this basis in resource-hungry production. Herzog's film, built on sounder environmental principles, in fact eschews the opportunity to be another penguin-absorbed nature documentary or campaign piece. Neither does it rely too heavily on famous expedition narratives. Instead it tells the story of those who choose to live and work in this extreme environment, focusing upon the human histories and senses of purpose that lead individuals to the ice. It's primarily a story of sacrifice in the name of science, which also hints at the ghosts of lives past which participants inevitably drag with them into what others mistake for a tabula rasa. It's a film which contrasts with a tradition of polar stories that focus on empty expanses, and man's confrontation with himself when faced with the great white beyond. Antarctica could easily be considered the ultimate wilderness location, but Herzog's film allows it to demonstrate more than ever that there really is no "getting away from it all." Wherever there's a human there's a story unfolding, a series of personal ghosts and, in many cases, a serious lettuce bill.
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