CommentsXp
Best movie ever!
FuzzyTagz
If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.
Curapedi
I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.
bruce-129
Several years ago I watched Werner Herzog's documentary "Encounters at the End of the World", and I know that I would be interested in this movie.It's hard to say this movie is better. They are both similar, but the photographer in "Antarctica: A Year on Ice" had the time to think and explore and set up shots that are just out of this world. I feel like I had the wonderful experience of living in Antarctica and for that I am thankful to this movie.I won't go on at length, because this is a movie that has to be experienced. I sadly notice that some people have rated this low and it is hard to believe. Were they forced to watch it? I can't figure out why other than they are just not ready in a place to experience this idea.This would be a little like going to another planet or living in a generation ship, isolated from humanity and yet maybe feeling your humanity so much the more.Great movie ... 10/10.
A_Different_Drummer
As it sits, right out of the box, this is a treat.Documentaries are best when they project the passion of their creator and here we have a gentleman with infinite experience of living on the continent, a gentleman who even took the time and trouble to make his own camera equipment (that would work in the cold) and set out to capture the "experience" for those will never get it first hand.Which is most of us.Making heavy use of voice over (as opposed to head and shoulders interviews) this is a fun ride.I can tell what would have made it perfect.Since this is fundamentally a story about cold (people yes,landscape yes, but cold mainly) I would have loved to see a digital readout over every shot showing current temperature.For example, when "summer" ends and the last plane is leaving, I saw people without outerware, dressed casual standing outside. I kept thinking, what was the temperature? In the next shot sequence a winter storm has set in which looks like it could freeze thoughts. What was the temperature then? Just a thought. Good movie. Recommended.
Annie Shaw
Antarctica. Perhaps it is a place more unknown to us on the big screen than the likes of our moon or Mars. It is intriguing to have a relatively untouched frontier still left on our planet. I tuned into Antarctica: A Year on Ice to quench my curiosity on the matter, and despite the wondrous offerings, was left feeling only slightly satiated.Anthony Powell gives us a glimpse into what it's like living at a station in Antarctica, but strangely, it's more tell than show. What I mean by that is instead of interviewing people and them giving obvious answers (they're going to feel isolated and they'll get to know each other pretty well pretty quick, who would have thought? totally shocking), which got boring pretty fast, it would have been more interesting to show what a typical day was like. Does the station only have one dining area? What's on the menu? Do they get vitamin supplements considering they've noticed how sickly pale they've become during the winter months? Is there an exercise facility? They get paid in cash? How do they cope with the perpetual daytime or nighttime? Or freezing temperatures? Negative 50 is no laughing matter. I won't ever know, because what's focused on are a bunch of clichéd information you probably already know or could easily look up on wikipedia.I also found it ironic how people kept saying the people that came there to work were "odd," and yet all of them seemed to complain of lack of sunlight, cold temperatures, and the monotony. Oh dear, they've all turned a ghastly shade of pasty white. Oh the horror! I thought the sunlight bouncing off the snow would intensify and give them a beachy sun glow. Actually, if they were really that odd, they wouldn't have complained like any other "normal" person, but what do I know? Okay, I promise to stop with the sarcasm now, because I have to give credit where credit is due and that's with the photography. Some of the time-lapse sequences are absolutely amazing. They border on repetitive near the end, but they alone are worth watching this documentary for. So, if you'd like a glimpse into the lives of Antarctica folks, you'd probably do better by researching the topic yourself or waiting for a better documentary to come along, but for now, this will have to do.
Semisonic
Documentaries are definitely not for everyone. It takes a certain patience, curiosity and contemplation to watch the world living its ordinary life, just like it's the case with soap operas or reality shows that try to imitate the real life in vitro. And i consider myself lucky to be able to enjoy the documentaries, since it really is a unique genre that offers some unique experience to a viewer.Honestly, i didn't expect too much from this film. In my experience with nature documentaries, one has to be both really big and really professional to shoot a truly decent documentary, that is why i absolutely adore the BBC films with David Attenborough, moderately accept the Discovery and National Geographic products and am outright sceptical about everything else. And this movie had that amateur indie feeling that in 99 cases out of 100 means that the outcome is bound to be mediocre.To my big (and pleasant) surprise, this was that very "1 out of 100" exception. Yes, the movie is basically made by a single man, a time lapse photography enthusiast who spent several years working on a polar base in Antarctica. But the fact that we are being introduced to that vast and secluded icy world by someone who's not a stranger to it himself makes it a different experience entirely. Anthony "Antz" Powell doesn't simply look for some "fancy stuff" to film and later present to us. He actually lives through all these moments, and we are allowed to witness them, which makes this film a rather intimate experience.It may sound silly, but another great thing about this movie is that it's not just about Antarctica. Though it does share with us the amazing beauty of its pristine nature, it doesn't sell Antarctica as the main and only star. After all, this huge frozen world can be equally beautiful and depressing. Instead, we look at this continent and the life that managed to bind itself to it through the eyes of the fellow workers, people who spent months, or even years, there doing their job and whose impression of Antarctica and the way humans interact with it is the most honest and true.It's probably not very groundbreaking, but illustrating life in Antarctica with simple people's lives and experiences makes this movie really heartfelt. It is a documentaty, but you invest yourself emotionally into it, you care about the people shown in it, follow their stories, connect to their problems, feelings and dreams. This removes restraints between you and the objects shown in the movie, making you more than just an impassive spectator, almost like a friend to those people. You do not simply consume facts or imagery, as the so-so documentaries offer you to do, you actually live through them.Maybe i'm fooling myself, but 'Antarctica: A Year on Ice' gave me a bit of a feeling of actually spending a year there. And what it is if not a sign that the film did its job well?
