Herbert Ponting's 1924 film THE GREAT WHITE SILENCE is a fantastic true account of Robert Falcon Scott's ill-fated 1910-13 expedition to reach the South Pole. Accompanying the expedition, Ponting captured probably the first ever footage of the alien terrain and wildlife of Antarctica, presenting it with a keen documentarian's eye as well as surprisingly witty commentary on the numerous intertitles. The first half of Ponting's feature-length document plays much like a nature film, capturing the day to day life of seals, seagulls and penguins, among others. Unlike the wildlife documentaries of today, the filmmakers and other members of the expedition frequently invade the frame and openly disrupt the natural order of events. Ponting confesses a number of times to scaring off seagulls and penguins in order to get decent shots of their hatching young. We also see crew members herding penguins around on an ice plateau and at one point the ship even harpoons a killer whale to save a floundering seal.
The second half of the documentary returns its focus to Scott and his small band of explorers as they embark on the seemingly impossible task of traversing 850 miles of nature's cruelest terrain on foot in order to claim the South Pole for King and Country. 100 years on, the fate of the Terra Nova expedition is most likely known to viewers, but it does nothing to lessen the impact of the events playing out in front of us. Faces are blackened by frostbite, dogs and ponies succumb to the elements and yet, through it all, the men remain resilient and strong-willed right to the bitter end.
The restoration by the BFI National Archive is a phenomenal piece of work and beat out the likes of Fritz Lang's METROPOLIS to win the award for Best Archive Restoration at the 2011 Focal International Awards. This new high definition 1080p release reintroduces Ponting's original and highly sophisticated tint and tone techniques, which brought an added layer of vibrant dynamism to the already startling photography. There is also a fantastic new score written and recorded by Simon Fisher Turner.
Released by the BFI in a dual format Region Free BD/DVD set, THE GREAT WHITE SILENCE arrives packed to the gills with supplementary features, including featurettes on the restoration, the composition of Fisher's score, archive newsreel items from the expedition's departure and return, as well as 90° South - Herbert Ponting's final sound version of his legendary expedition footage. All in all this is a bizarre yet breathtaking release that anyone interested in history, exploration, silent film, wildlife documentaries or film restoration (does that cover everybody?) owes it to themselves to seek out and explore!