Why I Watched This Film
While building my own IDFA programme, I looked for documentaries with a touch of lightness — hope, maybe some humour — and, if possible, beautiful cinematography. Plus: it’s a new Werner Herzog, and it screened at Carré, Amsterdam. Location matters.
I loved the whole experience. I always say I don’t want to watch long films. I’ve been bored so many times during long documentaries, even in the cinema. A screening in Carré is a bit different of course, but still: the film was over before I knew it. For me, that’s unbelievable. By the way, the bursts of laughter that went through the room now and then were great too.
What Stayed with Me
Wow, Ghost Elephants is a gorgeous film. I loved it.Those 100 minutes just flew by. Beautiful long takes. A serious subject with bits of humour here and there, so it never feels heavy while of course it really is heavy. The main character’s quest is a great hook.
Halfway through I did find myself thinking: why chase and capture this again? Leave the wildlife to the people who live there. What have the Westerners already destroyed there? And why do we so desperately need to build a DNA database?
The fact that the king and his people agreed to that surprised me, actually. I would have liked to hear a bit more about that. It was striking when Steven said that we all descend from these “sandmen”.
If you think about it for a moment, it’s horrific, impossible to digest, that “Western men” have killed these magnificent animals for fun. Where did they even get the nerve. I think we still have a lot to learn from these people. The trackers who can “read” the sand and the land – there are only three of them left. That makes me very wistful.
Did I mention the gorgeous timelapse of the starry sky?
Insights I’m taking with me
1. Audio
The first time we hear the king, the audio sounded to me like it was re-recorded later in a studio. Slightly “studio-ish”. Beautiful, deep, warm voice though. And in general: the voice-over is fantastic.*
2. Emotions
I cried during the footage of helicopter hunts in the fifties and sixties. But I also watched, breathless.*
3. Fun observations en route
I loved how he casually points out things “along the way”: dead birds in a lab, a venomous spider with poisonous babies on her back.
4. Let the scene’s breathe, especially when beautiful
And those elephants under water, stunning! The way you see the sand move and bubbles rising. Those are just incredibly beautiful pieces of film. And it’s probably the sound and the music as well that make it so that you’re never bored for a second.
5. Always bring your phone
You know what I also loved: the most important images were shot on phones. Herzog himself too thinks that’s important, he emphasised it several times. The lesson: always have your phone with you :).
Next Steps
Herzog really lets a scene breathe. He’s not afraid of very long takes in one go. There are quite a few drone shots too, if I remember correctly.
What does it say about me as a filmmaker, as a documentarian, that I’m this enthusiastic about this documentary? I think Herzogs style is brilliant. Because there’s humour in it. And with that humour he makes a heavy subject bearable.
Documentary analysis #3