A small self-funded expedition tries to reach the Point of Inaccessibility - the point farthest from the coastline - of Antarctica.
It won't come as a surprise that the expedition is doomed. Strange occurrences, accidents that become ever more dangerous and an expedition leader (Kang-ho Song, as good an actor as ever) whose mind slowly deteriorates are just some of the problems the expedition has to face. From time to time they find traces of the lost British expedition of 1922 that must have had an equally hard time.
It looks as if the greatest trouble the men will have to face are ghosts - those that roam Antarctica and those they have brought with them.
After watching Hansel & Gretel I felt the need to acquire director Pil-Sung Yim's debut feature as fast as possible. As it turns out, this was one of my better ideas.
Antarctic Journal is as much of a mood piece as the director's second film. Again, much of film's emotional strength stems from the sure grasp it has on the beauty and terror of nature. Of course one would be hard pressed to make a film taking place in the Antarctic and not make impressive use of nature. Finding the point where it is hard to decide where beauty begins and terror ends as Antarctic Journal does is quite another achievement.
The appeal of nature alone does not a good film make, though. Fortunately, the acting is strong as well, if maybe a little subdued for some Western viewers. For me, this helps to give the characters a grounding in reality that makes a fine contrast to the growing unreality of their surroundings.
The script is fine as well. I was especially happy about its ambiguity. It's left to our own interpretation or imagination if the ghosts are real or just hallucinations of men under heavy strain.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment