Antartica

Yes, I went to Antarctica, and spent A Year on Ice. More particularly, I went and spent money on seeing it in a Basement Cinema. And soon I should have my own copy, because I kickstartered it.

This is, as the title suggests, a year spent on the ice down in Antarctica. Anthony Powell has been working down there for a while, and took a camera along to show people just what it is like. During the summer time, there is a lot of people, bustling about, doing a lot of research. But then there's the winter, in which there's only a handful of people, very isolated, and there isn't much to do but weather it out...

One thing to come from this is a sense of scale. Antarctica is (unsurprisingly) huge, and you see the vastness of that contrasted with the small scope of the people. And it is unrelenting. You adapt and survive, you don't change it (aside from the impact of climate change). Penguins and seals survive, or not (this is exactly a movie for kids), and you need to maintain your equipment against the relentless ice and storms.

And while there's all the people during the summer, the winter time is completely different. There's a lot of stillness in this movie then, when the sun doesn't even come above the horizon. And people go more than a little stir crazy. (I wonder if those who do winter duty are those that will survive the madness most easily.)

After seeing this... yeah, I wouldn't mind spending some time down in Antarctica (although there are many reasons I shouldn't and wouldn't be there). But not a long time...

Although its screening is wrapping up, it's good to catch this if you can.

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