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December 23, 2001 -- "The Endurance: Shackleton's Legendary Antarctic Expedition" is a good documentary film about a fantastic journey of exploration into one of the most brutal environments on earth.
The film has all the usual historical documentary trappings in the Ken Burns tradition, a famous narrator, Liam Neeson ("The Phantom Menace"), still photos and a nice musical score, but it has more. The extras include original 35 millimeter motion picture footage from the 1914-1916 Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition. It also has interviews with relatives of the members of the expedition, and it also has modern motion picture footage taken at places Shackleton visited during the expedition. Just to make things more complicated, another film, by the same director, George Butler, is called "Shackelton's Antarctic Adventure." It, however, is narrated by Kevin Spacey, rather than Neeson. Other than that, I'm not sure what the difference is between the two films.
Much of the power of "The Endurance" derives from the fine motion picture footage and still photographs taken on the voyage by pioneer Australian documentary photographer Frank Hurley (1885-1962). Ernest Shackleton saw one of Hurley's expedition films, called "Home of the Blizzard," and hired him as the official expedition photographer for his expedition. The motion pictures and still photos are in remarkable condition. Much of the footage is sharp and clear.
Shackleton, an accomplished explorer, was determined to be the first person to cross the Antarctic continent and to regain a measure of glory for England after the tragic death in the Antarctic of fellow countryman Robert Falcon Scott. Shackleton learned from Scott's mistakes and from the success of Norwegian polar explorer Roald Amundsen, who reached the South Pole on Dec. 14, 1911, using dog sled teams. Looking for expedition volunteers, he wrote in a newspaper advertisement: "Men Wanted for Hazardous Journey. Small wages, bitter cold, long months of complete darkness, constant danger, safe return doubtful. Honor and recognition in case of success. -- Ernest Shackleton." He received 5,000 applications. A total of 56 men were picked for the voyage.
The expedition, almost cancelled by the onset of World War I, sailed off toward Antarctica, but never arrived. Shackleton's ship, The Endurance (named after his family motto: "By endurance we conquer"), was trapped in pack ice and crushed. Instead of trying to cross the Antarctic, his new goal was to try to survive the nightmare of being trapped in ice hundreds of miles away from the nearest human settlement. There was no radio contact. There would be no help coming. The members of the expedition had to work together to save themselves.
When The Endurance was crushed, the tough-as-nails Hurley dove into the bowels of the ship to save his film and some other equipment. He continued to snap pictures during the rest of the expedition with his trusty Kodak Brownie camera. Hurley's photos show the stark, terrible beauty of the Antarctic wilderness. The motion pictures he took show the men playing soccer on pack ice, while they waited for spring. The film also shows the heroic efforts to try to save the ship. In addition to Hurley's photos, artists renderings of some events are also shown in the documentary.
Hurricane-force winds and snow weren't the main enemies the men had to face. They had to overcome despair and avoid madness. These hazards had overwhelmed some previous expeditions. Shackleton kept his men to a routine and Shackleton himself took a turn scrubbing the floors and doing other work with the rest of the men on the ship. There were also evenings of music and plays put on by the men. Shackleton faced a near-mutiny at one point when the ship's carpenter and shipwright, Henry McNish, questioned his leadership. He managed to avert a mutiny. Ironically, the resourceful and inventive McNish turned out to be a key figure later in the expedition. Shackleton later wrote of the expedition: "We had seen God in His splendours, heard the text that Nature renders. We had reached the naked soul of man."
The stark photos and motion pictures from the voyage make a good counterpoint to the modern color footage taken by Tom Hurwitz and Sandi Sisselilm in the documentary. There is a haunting beauty to the white and green icebergs floating in the seas around Antarctica. In addition to Neeson's narration, other voices are heard in the film reading from journals, letters and interviews, portraying various members of the expedition This film rates a B.
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