Whether striking a tone more uplifting or tragic, what all survival films have in common - to one degree or another - is being difficult to watch. The barren, beautiful frozen landscapes in this movie both pair and contrast with the fierce, extreme conditions everyone struggles through. Even before the plot meaningfully picks up as efforts go sideways, there's a level of cringe on hand with the experience depicted, and further difficulty in empathizing with the conditions forced on the animals - emphatically more strenuous than those endured by the humans. I can appreciate how 'Antarctica' enjoyed so much popularity and success, not least of all in Japan; the drama is compelling.
The first hour mostly focuses on the people on the continent, and only thereafter does the film become more about the dogs left behind. As it does, the viewing experience becomes notably more arduous, especially for animal lovers. It's heartbreaking enough even if incidents were merely simulated to portray the circumstances the sled team went through. Yet despite the director's assurances, the lack of particular endorsement from an animal safety group makes the production somewhat dubious. Still - much credit to those responsible for training the canines, because they had their work cut out for them. Scenes of the dogs living off the land are generally orchestrated well, and duly captivating.
All this having been said, 'Antarctica' isn't easy to engage with, even putting aside the gut-wrenching trials of the animals. After the first hour, while footage of the huskies on the ice is considered most highly, it's nonetheless interspersed with long moments in much-warmer Japan as members of the human expedition contend with memories and guilt of leaving their companions behind. As a result, the feature often seems less a cohesive whole and more a series of snapshots - further emphasized with narration that works alone to connect the disparate scenes in the absence of a concrete, flowing narrative. The general concept is quite good - it's a story worth telling - but the execution leaves much to be desired.
As the picture is unbalanced and unrefined broadly, its constituent elements likewise suffer. Composer Vangelis is rightly celebrated for his music, but fine as his score for 'Antarctica' may be, it still comes across as both lacking, and not entirely given its due. The drama and emotional investment we should feel is greatly diminished by sequencing that bounces back and forth inconsistently between Japan and the frozen south. I don't have specific cause to doubt director Koreyoshi Kurahara, and in general I think his camerawork and arrangement of scenes is quite suitable; he even captures some especially great shots. Yet the overall rough and inelegant craft of the picture gives me pause, and so it is too with other technical aspects of the production.
At length, I do think this is enjoyable, satisfying, and worth watching. It's also worth mentioning that compared to other features that tell the tale of animals surviving on their own, at no point does it become overwrought with sentiment. On the other hand, that lack of saccharine sensation is partly just because of how the movie is built as a whole. It's just unfortunate that what could have been a complete, riveting, entrancing spectacle of hardship and endurance is dampened by an uneven construction. Even so - bearing in mind the nature of the content, and this absolutely won't be for everyone - 'Antarctica' is worth checking out if you come across it.
