FIREBALL: VISITORS FROM DARKER WORLDS | FILM REVIEW
Dirs: Werner Herzog, Clive Oppenheimer (no rating, 97 mins)
When I now think of esteemed German auteur Werner Herzog, I now ponder his documentaries more than his early dramas. After proving his proficiency in both genres, his current scope is the magical nature of asteroids and the profound effect on the people who study them. There is much poetry in this greatly shot doc that could only be made by Herzog.
He cheekily talks over the dense scientific jargon of scientists now and then, not so much rude, though, as considerate to the general audience. We see many sublime vistas around the earth: India, France, Hawaii, Italy and more. Herzog’s obsession with death is never far away, though a bleak mood is rarely felt when the film making is this absorbing: he and co-director Clive Oppenheimer seem to marvel at these vital bits of rocks, billions of years old. “Dust is the currency of the cosmos,” is perhaps the best line. Lingering closeups of both academics and the public feel profound, too.
There are nods to his past film work. As Oppenheimer and crew descend to a cenote in Mexico, we are reminded of the opening shot of Herzog’s masterpiece Aguirre, The Wrath Of God. A return to Antarctica evokes 2007’s Oscar-nominated Encounters At The End Of The World. A breathtaking flight through the vast ice sees experts on the hunt for meteorites: they’ve just been sitting there for an eternity, pushed out of the ice and waiting to be discovered. A Russian choir makes for perfect music with this imagery. Most of the soundtrack is made up of the exquisite, folk sonorities of Ernst Reijseger – a familiar sound in recent Herzog, included in the less brilliant Family Romance, LLC.
The conclusion of Fireball sees a rare visit to the Antipodean island of Mer, in the Torres Strait, where the spiritual beliefs of the locals are infused with meteorites. A dance unperformed for 50 years is offered to the crew. As the sun sets, the film contains another transient marker: preserving a native dance that may never be seen again on film.
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words JAMES ELLIS image APPLE TV