'Encounters at the end of the world'

Rating:

BY RAFER GUZMÁN | rafer.guzman@newsday.com

June 13, 2008

One of the last grand philosophers of film, Werner Herzog can always be depended on for some mind-altering viewing. Even a somewhat slapdash diary like "Encounters at the End of the World," which chronicles his journey to Antarctica, yields results: Amid the odd tangents and half-incubated ideas lie some memorable nuggets of madness.

Only Herzog, creator of the hilarious, harrowing 2005 documentary "Grizzly Man," would make a science film that mostly eschews science. He has more pressing questions: Why don't chimps ride other animals? Why do some insects keep others as slaves? Can penguins go insane? (Leave it to Herzog to find one.)

But the animals he truly loves are humans, and "Encounters" is essentially a study of men and their beliefs. A linguist working in a greenhouse, a gloomy cell biologist, a forklift operator with the tongue of a poet - in these unlikely folks Herzog finds beauty and truth. Granted, this documentary (surely the weirdest ever funded by the Discovery Channel) could have used more editing. But it's the notebook of a genius, and well worth cracking open.

PLOT Idiosyncratic director Werner Herzog heads to Antarctica to discover unusual strains of humanity - and finds them. (G)

CAST David Ainley, Samuel Bowser and other real-life characters.

LENGTH 1:39

PLAYING At Film Forum, Manhattan. June 27 at Cinema Arts, Huntington

BOTTOM LINE Herzog’s brilliant mind wanders a bit, but any time spent in his company has its rewards.