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South & the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration on Film
[Blu-ray]
Blu-ray B - United Kingdom - British Film Institute Review written by and copyright: James-Masaki Ryan (7th May 2022). |
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The Film
 South & the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration on Film It's fascinating to think that just a little over a century ago that there was still a place on earth that had not been charted or set foot on by mankind. The continent of Antarctica was the last to be discovered and to be explored by man, and the early explorations from the very late 19th century and the early 20th century would have historical records that would revolutionize history in the making, and that was the motion picture camera. The extreme conditions in the unknown land with extremely low temperatures, strong winds, and dangerous landscapes made things difficult as they were for the first explorers, but with film cameras brought alongside them, it took people from around the world on these voyages and filled young minds with wonder, excitement, showcasing sights that were unimaginable to most eyes. "The Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration" is this time period, in which multiple counties across the planet raced to the southernmost part of the world, from the United Kingdom, Belgium, Norway, Japan and others, sometimes competing to break new records. From the first scientific stations being founded, to the first journey to the South Pole, the achievements are incredible feats of physical and mental endurance, though sadly there were instances of explorers losing their lives in the process. The BFI has collected a number of short films and recordings from this early period from a number of film archives around the world in this incredible Blu-ray and DVD set entitled "South & the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration on Film", with the following being included, divided by exploration: The Expeditions - British Antarctic (Southern Cross) Expedition, 1898-1900 -- Antarctic Expedition: Sir George Newnes' Farewell to Officers and Crew (1898) (0:52) - British Antarctic (Nimrod) Expedition, 1907-1909 -- Departure of Shackleton's British Antarctic Expedition from Lyttelton, NZ, 1st Jan, 1908 (1908) (8:01) -- My South Polar Expedition (audio) (1910) (3:44) -- Shackleton Speaks (audio) (1910) (0:53) - Japanese Antarctic Expedition, 1910-1912 -- Nihon nankyoku tanken (1910-1912) (18:53) - Amundsen's South Pole Expedition, 1911-1914 -- Fram's South Polar Expedition (1910-1912) (21:31) - Australasian Antarctic Expedition, 1911-1914 (with Play All) (69:10) -- Australasian Antarctic Expedition Films AKA The Home of the Blizzard (1911-1914) (68:25) -- Pathé's Animated Gazette No. 140 (1911) (0:45) - Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition, 1914-1917 (with Play All) (110:30) -- "South" (1919) (81:01) -- Additional footage from "South" (18:31) -- Dogs for the Antarctic (Topical Budget) (1911) (1:02) -- Dogs for the Antarctic (Pathé) (1914) (0:46) -- Captain Davis Returns to Sydney After an Adventurous Voyage to the Antarctic Regions to Rescue Part of the Shackleton Expedition (c1917) (0:26) -- Ross Sea Party (1917) (8:42) - Shackleton-Rowett Expedition, 1921-1922 (with Play All) (30:14) -- The Late Sir Ernest Shackleton Bathing Query (1922) (2:09) -- El homenaje del Uruguay a los restos de Sir Ernest Shackleton (1922) (11:04) -- Shackleton's Funeral (1922) (4:06) -- Shackleton South Georgia Birds (1922) (12:54) Note the above runtimes are for the films on the Blu-ray disc. The first expedition to Antarctica was the Belgian Antarctic Expedition (1897-1899), led by Adrien de Gerlache, though a motion picture camera was not included on their voyage. It was notable that the crew members included Roald Amundsen, the Norwegian explorer who would later become the first person to reach the South Pole. The British Antarctic Souther Cross Expedition (1898-1900) does not have any film on the continent, but newsreel footage of British MP Sir George Newnes and magazine publisher greeting the officers and crew of the expedition. This was followed by a number of expeditions from countries such as Germany, France, and Sweden, as well as the UK with expeditions by Captain Robert Falcon Scott and by Sir Ernest Shackleton. Presented here is footage of Shackleton's pe@arture from Lyttelton, New Zealand on January 1st, 1908 as well as sound recordings of Shackleton made upon his return to New Zealand, preserved on wax cylinders. The tenth expedition was the first from a non-European country, and that was the Japanese Antarctic Expedition (1910-1912) led by army officer Nobu Shirase. During his time in the military he was a key figure in the exploration of the Kuril Islands and always had a fascination with the exploration of the poles. He was not able to gather support for his planned voyage to Antarctica from the government, and so the funds were raised independently, especially from political figure Shigenobu Okuma. Camera operator Yasunao Taizumi was hired to record the expedition, which resulted in the documentary 「日本南極探檢」 (or The Japanese Expedition to Antarctica). Though there were no major scientific breakthroughs or discoveries, there were no deaths or injuries and proved the capabilities of the Japanese explorers. Shirase was greeted with a hero's return in 1912, but fame was shortlived, as his deeds were quickly forgotten about and he would spend many years paying off enormous debts for the expedition. The documentary presented on this disc is not the original version but is a shortened version that was re-edited in 1950 for the 40th anniversary of the expedition, and was four years after the death of Shirase. A restored 47 minute version has been screened at Le Giornate del Cinema Muto in 2019 and is premiering in Japan at the Nation Film Archive during the Cinema: Lost and Found season in May 2022. Amundsen's South Pole Expedition (1911-1914) was one of the most significant in Antarctic history, with Roald Amundsen leading a party of five from Norway to become the first to people to successfully reach the geographic South Pole on December 14th, 1911, in a close race with Captain Scott of the UK who reached the South Pole only a few weeks later with his crew. While Amundsen returned with his crew safely, Scott and his part of five unfortunately did not live to tell their tale as they tragically froze to death on their journey back to base camp. The documentary footage of Scott's ill fated journey was chronicled in Herbert G. Ponting's documentary "The Great White Silence", with the lengthy footage shot during the expedition and completed as a feature film in 1924. For Amundsen's crew, a total of about thirty minutes was shot and preserved. Consisting of shots of the ship, the animals encountered, and the landscape, there were a number of versions made with differing shots and language intertitles. Presented here in this set is the restored English language version. The Australasian Antarctic Expedition (1911-1914) was led by Sir Douglas Mawson, who previously was a member of Shackleton's Nimrod Expedition (1907–1909). Mapping more than 4,000 kilometers of previously unexplored land, the efforts were incredible for scientific research, as well as having a great amount of documented footage available, shot by Frank Hurley. The footage has had a complicated history due to the ownership of the film and the subsequent cutting and recutting over the years. Presented here in this set is the most lengthy version of the documentary, which was found in Mawson's shed in Adelaide forty years later, which may or may never have been screened for the public over the years. The Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition (1914-1917) is one of the most famous of all the expeditions made. This was Sir Ernest Shackleton's third expedition to Antarctica, the first being the Discovery expedition (1901–1903) and the second being the Nimrod expedition (1907–1909). For the third, the goal was to travel across the continent on foot, and this journey called for two ships. There was the Endurance which was under Shackleton's command for the Weddell Sea party. The other was the Aurora, under the command of Aeneas Mackintosh for the Ross Sea party. For camerawork, Frank Hurley, who photographed the documentary footage for the Australasian Antarctic Expedition was hired. But things did not go so smoothly as the Endurance was trapped in ice, stalling the crew, and eventually sinking a few months later, stranding the men in the most desolate of conditions. The documentary footage and photos that Hurley shot is an incredible capture of survival, willpower, and like the ship they sailed on, their endurance. The edited documentary "South", completed in 1919 featured the men at their best, the their daily tasks, the animals encountered, as well as the chronicling of the sinking ship and their eventual rescue. This set includes a 4K restored version of "South", as well as some related footage. There are two separate newsreels featuring the dogs that were part of the expedition, There is also a newsreel featuring Captain John King Davis after his rescuing of Shackleton's shore party. Finally there is footage shot from the other ship from the expedition, the Aurora. The footage had never been edited or screened, and are presented as rushes in their entirety, with audio commentary which is noted in the extras section below. Finally, the Shackleton-Rowett Expedition was the final in the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration, although Shackleton himself would not reach Antarctica during this voyage, as he suffered a fatal heart attack on January 5th, 1922 on the island of South Georgia, just before the crew was about to set sail for Antarctica. Frank Wild, who was second in command took on the duty as leader, which sadly turned out to be one of the least productive expeditions, due to problems with the ship, The Quest, unable to penetrate the icy waters and not being able to reach its destination. It also proved to be the end of an era, as the world was recovering from the devastation that was the first World War. The set here collects two shorts related to Shackleton's passing as well as a short showcasing the wildlife on the island of South Georgia. The films included in this set were not just used for research and documenting purposes for science, but also in many cases for the public. Film reels were shipped back to civilization when supply ships came around, then the footage would be edited into newsreels for the public to see. Newspapers would publish progress reports, and public interest would help with future expeditions. In addition, the explorers would often take their footage to be used in lectures as well as narrated screenings, which would again gather interested crowds and hopeful funding of future projects. Cinema was still in its infancy, with synchronized sound being a decade away and color being limited to tinting if necessary. These are the foundations and blueprints of nature documentaries that the public take for granted today, using the best and most advanced technology available at the time that truly thought about future generations. Yes, it's unfortunate that most modern audiences will not sit through a silent film if given the choice, but it will be hard to find anyone that wouldn't be fascinated by what these people accomplished at a time when technology such as GPS or central heating were not invented. History would repeat with man's ambition in the race to space and to the moon in the 1950s and 1960s, and it is hard to see how those events would have turned out if the pioneering cameramen from the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration were not around. Note this is a region B Blu-ray / region 2/7/8 DVD set
Video
The BFI presents the films in the original 1.33:1 aspect ratio in 1080p AVC MPEG-4. The films came from a number of worldwide archives and with all of them being at least a century old, they all bear some wear and tear as expected with some being better and some being worse than others. The transfers come from the following sources: Eye Filmmuseum (The Netherlands) - Antarctic Expedition: Sir George Newnes’ Farewell to Officers and Crew Nga-Taonga Sound & Vision (New Zealand) - Departure of Shackleton’s British Antarctic Expedition from Lyttelton NZ, 1st Jan, 1908 National Film Archive of Japan - Nihon nankyoku tanken Norwegian Film Institute/National Library of Norway - Fram’s South Polar Expedition National Film and Sound Archive of Australia - The Official Film of the Mawson Australasian Antarctic Expedition, 1911-1914 AKA The Home of the Blizzard - Captain Davis Returns to Sydney... - My South Polar Expedition Imperial War Museums (UK) - El Homenaje del Uruguay a los Restos de Sir Ernest Shackleton The lengthiest film in the set is "South", which the film negative is preserved at the BFI National Archive. The 35mm restoration negative was scanned at 4K resolution and remastered in 2K. The original intertitles were reconstructed from the original elements to match the original version. This is easily the strongest looking feature in the set, with quite a lot of work put into the image restoration, eliminating damage marks, stabilizing the picture, while also keeping film grain and having strong detail for the image, which are tinted for the various scenes. A stellar job by the BFI. 
There isn't information included about the transfers or the source materials for the films from the other film institutes and archives. Nihon nankyoku anken might be the weakest of the bunch, taken from a re-edited 16mm source. (The lengthier version is from a 35mm nitrate print, but that version is not available here.) The image is quite blurry, has a lot of stability issues and has inconsistent black and white levels making detail hard to discern. For the other shorts, they are in better condition, though each have their fair share of wear and tear, with scratches, speckles, and other debris scattered around. For the Fram expedition, the tinted and restored version is slightly windowboxed and has rounded corners. The HD transfers are quite good, with sharpness and contrast being better balanced. Some screenshots are as follows. 
Note the screenshots are taken from the standard definition DVDs
Audio
Music DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (2022 score by Neil Brand) Music LPCM 2.0 stereo (2022 score by Neil Brand) Music LPCM 2.0 stereo (2002 score by Neil Brand) For "South", there are three score options to choose from. There is the 2002 piano score by Neil Brand available in uncompressed stereo which sounds excellent in its minimalist form. For the new restoration in 2022, Brand has rescored and re-recorded the film with a broader scope with a brass arrangement, performed by the Covent Garden Sinfonia. The newer score is available in lossless 5.1 and uncompressed stereo options. The 5.1 track has good separation and the subtle sound cues come in very nicely. On the DVD copy, the soundtracks are presented in standard Dolby Digital 5.1 and 2.0 stereo. Music LPCM 2.0 stereo For the other silent films in the set, there are various library music cues presented uncompressed, from artists such as Jahzzar, Chris Zabriskie, Paul Mottram, Robert Northcott, Helen Jane Long and others. Although the second longest film in the set, the feature length documentary of the Australasian expedition is presented completely silent without music accompaniment. (I personally played sides A and C of Miles Davis' "Get Up with It" (1974) while watching the film which worked quite well, but to each their own.) The audio for each film sounds excellent, with the ambient tracks using stereo separation quite well, and none of them being too distracting over the images being played. The tracks are well balanced and have no issues of dropout or errors to speak of. On the DVDs, the soundtracks are presented in Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo. There are optional English subtitles included. These are for the non-English intertitles, as well as for transcription for the audio recordings of Shackleton. In addition there are English subtitles available for all the bonus features including the audio commentaries which are listed below. They are well timed, and easy to read without errors to speak of.
Extras
DISC ONE (Blu-ray) Audio commentary on "South" by Luke McKernan In this commentary recorded in 2002 by historian Luke McKernan, it fills in the historical context of the voyage, with Shackleton leaving on the day that the United Kingdom declared war on Germany, pointing out the members of the crew, the timeline of events, and more. While the commentary has a lot of fascinating information, there are some unfortunate silent gaps towards the second half. in English Dolby Digital 2.0 without subtitles "Map of Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition" (2002) featurette with mandatory commentary by Kelly Tyler-Lewis (1:50) In this all too short featurette, filmmaker and author Kelly Tyler-Lewis narrates the journey Shackleton took over a map of Antarctica. Tyler-Lewis won the 2002 Emmy for Best Historical Documentary for the "Shackleton’s Voyage of Endurance" episode of NOVA, and also is the writer of the book "The Lost Men: The Harrowing Story of Shackleton's Ross Sea Party". in 1080p AVC MPEG-4, in 1.33:1, in English Dolby Digital 2.0 with optional English subtitles Ross Sea Party (with mandatory commentary by Kelly Tyler-Lewis) (1917) (8:42) This could also be considered an "extra" as it is a commentary, though a mandatory one. Tyler-Lewis gives some information on the timeline of events as well as about the crew that are featured in the film reels. in 1080p AVC MPEG-4, in 1.33:1, in English Dolby Digital 2.0 with optional English subtitles "Neil Brand on Scoring South" 2022 featurette (15:40) In this newly recorded remote interview, composer Neil Brand discusses about the minimal piano score he created for "South" back in 2002 for its restoration as well as about the new 2022 rescored version with the new instruments used, demonstrations of editing and showing footage from the recording sessions. in 1080p AVC MPEG-4, in 1.78:1, in English Dolby Digital 2.0 with optional English subtitles DISCS TWO & THREE (DVD) The films and the above extras are repeated on the DVDs in the standard definition PAL format as follows. DISC TWO (DVD) The Expeditions - British Antarctic (Southern Cross) Expedition, 1898-1900 -- Antarctic Expedition: Sir George Newnes' Farewell to Officers and Crew (1898) (0:50) - British Antarctic (Nimrod) Expedition, 1907-1909 -- Departure of Shackleton's British Antarctic Expedition from Lyttelton, NZ, 1st Jan, 1908 (1908) (7:42) -- My South Polar Expedition (audio) (1910) (3:44) -- Shackleton Speaks (audio) (1910) (0:53) - Japanese Antarctic Expedition, 1910-1912 -- Nihon nankyoku tanken (1910-1912) (18:08) - Amundsen's South Pole Expedition, 1911-1914 -- Fram's South Polar Expedition (1910-1912) (20:40) - Australasian Antarctic Expedition, 1911-1914 (with Play All) (66:24) -- Australasian Antarctic Expedition Films AKA The Home of the Blizzard (1911-1914) (65:42) -- Pathé's Animated Gazette No. 140 (1911) (0:43) DISC THREE (DVD) The Expeditions - Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition, 1914-1917 (with Play All) -- "South" (with optional commentary by Luke McKernan (2002)) (1919) (77:48) -- Additional footage from "South" (17:48) -- Dogs for the Antarctic (Topical Budget) (1911) (0:59) -- Dogs for the Antarctic (Pathé) (1914) (0:44) -- Captain Davis Returns to Sydney After an Adventurous Voyage to the Antarctic Regions to Rescue Part of the Shackleton Expedition (c1917) (0:25) -- Ross Sea Party (with mandatory commentary by Kelly Tyler-Lewis) (1917) (8:21) - Shackleton-Rowett Expedition, 1921-1922 (with Play All) (29:01) -- The Late Sir Ernest Shackleton Bathing Query (1922) (2:04) -- El homenaje del Uruguay a los restos de Sir Ernest Shackleton (1922) (10:38) -- Shackleton's Funeral (1922) (3:56) -- Shackleton South Georgia Birds (1922) (12:23) "Map of Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition" (2002) featurette with mandatory commentary by Kelly Tyler-Lewis (1:50) "Neil Brand on Scoring South" 2022 featurette (15:03) Booklet A 36 page booklet is included with the first pressing. First is an essay by BFI curator Bryony Dixon discussing the films within the set, the Antarctic race in the early 1900s and more. There are film notes for each expedition by Dixon, Naomi Boneham, Charlotte Connelly, Masaki Daibo, Eirik Frisvold Hanssen, and Quentin Turnour, film credits, bonus features information, notes on the transfers, acknowledgements, and stills.
Packaging
The menus are excellent, dividing the films among expeditions and each submenu detailing the contents of the films. There is a small typo on the menu screen with the "Captain Davis returns to Sydney..." short though, in which the city of Sydney is spelled Sidney in the description.
Overall
South & the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration on Film is an incredible collection of footage from the pioneering explorers of the South Pole, featuring incredible courage and ambition, while also showcasing the power of cinema through the footage captured in these voyages by early documentarians. The BFI set includes a wealth of films as well as informative extras making this highly recommended.
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