Encounters at the End of the World is the latest entry in Werner Herzog's line of investigative documentaries, wherein the filmmaker checks out people living unfamiliar and/or challenging ways of life and observes, documents, and comments upon his discoveries. These movies are often philosophical, investigating what drives people to go where they go and do what they do, especially if what they do wouldn't be perceived as "sane" or "normal" to your typical city-dwelling civilian.

In this case, Herzog visits Antarctica and uncovers the special relationship the continent has to the men and women who live there. As usual, many fascinating observations can be made, such as a common thread that ties together the people who move to the icy south -- most of them don't fit well within the rules of civilization, and Antarctica becomes a kind of escape, a haven for them. For those who believe the continent has nothing but penguins, surprise comes from finding a "banal" settlement, as Herzog puts it, in the form of McMurdo Station, which has the amenities of a small town. This is contrasted with the natural wonders Herzog does indeed happen upon there; he once again makes image-gathering a priority, and here he adds to his collection of unique and alien sights and sounds.

But mostly the film has a soft lament for this remote world, which is steadily losing its claim as one of the only locations on Earth that man has left little to no footprints on. While understanding what draws certain people to Antarctica, he shows how the population there, even as it consists mostly of scientists and explorers, adds to its natural evolving impermanence.

Even the continent at the end of the world -- cold, remote, dangerous, and forbidding -- cannot resist the erosion brought about by man's time on this planet. Seeing the movie becomes a method of understanding, of putting into perspective, our place and limited privilege on Earth.

(Released by THINKFilm and rated "G" as suitable for all ages.)

Review also posted at www.windowtothemovies.