Endurance

As "Endurance" (2024 release; 103 min.) opens, it is "1914 and we see grainy footage of Ernest Shackleton and his crew of 27 on the "Endurance" ship heading towards Antarctic. We then go to "2022" at the Weddell Island in the Antarctic, where a new expedition is hoping to find what remains of the Endurance shop wreckage at the bottom of the Antarctic. At this point we are 10 minutes into the movie.

Couple of comments: this is the latest documentary of Oscar-winning Jimmy Chin and Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi ("Free Sole"). While this covers the nowadays expedition to locate the Endurance, the documentary is in fact also, if not more so, about Shackleton's 1914-1916 Antarctic expedition. It is an absolute amazing story in itself. Shackleton, light years ahead of others, realized that if it isn't filmed and photographed, it might just as well not have happened, and hence this documentary features lots of footage and photos of the 1914-1916 expedition (some of the footage has been colored, I might add). Bottom line for me is that I really enjoyed this, and that I will watch any documentary directed by the real life husband and wife team.

"Endurance" premiered last Fall, and is not streaming on Hulu, where I caught it the other day. "Endurance" is currently rated 70% Certified Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes, which feels right on point to me. If you are in the mood for a great documentary about exploring the Antarctic in the early 20th century and nowadays, I'd readily suggest you check this out and draw your own conclusion.

This film has much going for it, esp for those who don't know the Shackleton story. Views will differ on the usefulness of colorizing the old photographs, AI-reproducing the voices of the dead, and the recreations; I didn't find these to be improvements, and believe recreations should always be tagged as such (even when they're obvious). But I see no excuse for almost completely ignoring the captain and ice pilot, Knowledge Bengu and Freddie Ligthelm. Mensun Bound's book is clear on their challenges and extraordinary skills. I can think of various reasons why the film ignores them, but all of them leave a bad taste in my mouth.

I came into this not knowing anything about Shackleton's story apart from the ship being stuck in the ice. The documentary was a great way to tell this heroic story, underlaid by the modern day expedition to find the wreck of Shackleton's ship 'Endurance'.

Primarily using original film footage and spoken diary / journal entries plus some TV interviews of Shackleton's crew really brought their stories to life. What they endured definitely put the trials and tribulations of the modern crew into context, and their highs and lows of searching for the wreck paled into insignificance compared to the life and death struggles of 100 years ago.

Really interesting but perhaps my main criticism was the lack of detail given to the Endurance once it had been found. A 3D scan of the ship was pictured but without showing how that was created, given the challenge of capturing high quality data at that depth and in total darkness. Would have happily had some details of the Shackleton or modern crew stories reduced to give more time to that.

Overall, definitely recommended.

I enjoyed this documentary film. I think I never read or watched anything about the Endurance before, although it reminded me of a couple of tv shows and books but with different stories. I didn't mind the AI parts at all, it was a nice touch. When made it well, I have no issue with this type of AI, but I hope it doesn't become a trend because some studios might start abusing it.

The modern story of the guys looking for the Endurance wreck starts well but soon starts to get boring, too much time wasting and when we reach the end it's just a couple of minutes with the footage we all wanted to see... Oh well.

Regarding the old story of the Endurance, it's magnificent, but a warning for some people more emotional who love animals: there's a very sad part, be cautious.

Cheers.

I can't help but think that this would have been better as two separate documentaries; the story/recreation of Shackleton's journey, and the search for the wreck of the Endurance. Combined, both stories feel very much like they've been edited down into chunks instead of the stories flowing naturally. The modern-day search feels especially disjointed, like they weren't sure about what to show and what not to. The constant reference to "days left" made the whole thing feel cheap, like a reality show. Like they had to add that to insert unneeded tension instead of just telling a story that's worth telling. (Also pointless since you know they'll find it) It's also absurd (and a little gross) to compare the modern mission with Shackleton's. Yes, the mission is tough, but come on. The two voyages aren't even in the same league.

They really should have just split these up. It would have been nice to get some technical info on the research ship and submersible. Then they could have taken their time with the search and showed more of their thought process and how things were done.