Into the Cold: A Journey of the Soul

Sebastian Copelands film is an escape from our modern world. When was the last time you did that? Sebastians film hits on three nerves for me. Isolation/solitude, personal/corporate responsibility and beauty. I am grateful to Sebastian for taking this journey so i could experience it through his eyes since there is NO chance i could ever do it on my own. Simply for that, this movie is a MUST see. From the time you see him weighing and packing his gear to the moment he arrives on the North Pole, you can see every moment of his experience. I'm sure condensing that to 90 minutes was difficult enough. You'll leave the film feeling a little more thought provoked on why we are here and our place in this planet.

This movie was just okay. Ironically, it suffers from a parallel problem with the climate change cause it champions. Although movies about scenery can be beautiful and awe-inspiring, people care most about stories of other people. Yet the story of the two main players in this piece are under-told. We never really get much background on either of them. They're introduced perfunctorily, as though by resume: This guy does this; that guy does that.

We do get to see some of their preparation and a bit of the training, mostly for writer/director/star Sebastian Copeland ⎯ in fact, almost entirely for him. But we never really get to learn who they are as people. Sebastian talks a little about his photography background and the fact that climate change is important to him. But it's simply not presented in a very compelling way. There is too much "telling" and not enough "showing".

This is true for all of the personal stories. For example, he mentions in narration the problems faced by the Inuit and we do see them briefly, but there is no investigation of their history, or their individual struggles, or anything like that. We are just briefly given a few factual tidbits. Actually, even this part of the movie seemed more about Sebastian than about them. He told us that they blessed him and although that's an honor, it did seem like he was trying to tell us, "Look at how well they regard me!" Perhaps I'm wrong, but the best documentary makers know how to get out of the way when need be and show the stories of other people.

There are some technical issues with the filming itself. Other than the formal interviews, every single interior scene is out of focus. There is also a bit of rolling shutter on the outdoor scenes. The latter is no big deal, but the poor focus was distracting for me.

Ultimately, the movie is a bit like looking through an acquaintance's holiday photos. The scenes may be stunning ⎯ and they are ⎯ but there is little to truly draw us in to the human element.

This documentary captures Copeland and Heger's march across the Arctic in -34 degree temperatures to commemorate the hundredth anniversary of the first expedition to the North Pole by Admiral Peary in 1909 their trek (including information on their training, what they packed and why) with vivid shots of vast whiteness and their own words to describe what they're going through. Pulling heavy sleds across rocky uneven terrain with challenging weather makes the feat sometimes seem impossible: "The mood varies between euphoric and upbeat and frustrated and doubtful."

There's a strong message on climate change featured throughout as the duo are also doing this to raise awareness on melting Polar caps--Copeland makes the point that there will be no opportunity for a bicentennial expedition.

I find other people's commitments to treks like this interesting and I've certainly never experienced anything like the Arctic, but the film isn't particularly exciting, Copeland and Heger aren't featured enough for me to truly care about them (I mean, I'm not cold-hearted or anything, but there isn't enough insight for me to want to follow their story), and the scenery is definitely new but not awe-inspiring (Copeland acknowledges that capturing the scenery on film is difficult for many reasons).

So, you will not find me donning a parka and traveling to the Northwest Passage anytime soon, but if you are planning on doing something like that, you'd probably enjoy this.

"Into the Cold: A Journey of the Soul" (2010 release; 87 min.) retells the preparation for, and then the actual attempt, to recreate the polar expedition of Admiral Keary and his team from 1909 exactly 100 years later. It basically involved a 6 week trek on foot, covering over 300 miles, towards the north pole. As the documentary opens, we are introduced to Sebastian Copeland, the writer-director-photographer-editor and all-around "star" of this movie. We learn a bit of his background and then things start to get serious with the final preparations of Sebastian's and Keith's trek, which Sebastian calls "the Mount Everest of polar expeditions", but as the DVD jacket cleverly points out: "In the last century, fewer than 150 people have made it to the North Pole on foot. By comparison, 77 people summitted Mt. Everest on May 22, 2008 alone", so it's pretty clear which of the two is hardest. To tell you more would spoil your viewing experience, you'll just have to see for yourself how it all plays out.

Couple of comments: first, the initial 40 min. or so of the documentary are devoted to background stories and preparations for the expedition. So when we finally do get to the actual expedition, I was more than ready for it. I'm happy to say it is very much worth it, and then some. We see Sebastian and Keith dealing with rubble fields, pressure ridges, fatigue, and the cold. Ah, yes, the cold! Temperatures exceed minus 50F at times, just unreal. Second, the footage from the North Pole is nothing short of stunning. And the beauty is that we get to see it in the comfort and warmth of our living room. Third, despite all the fluff about "searching for myself" or "a soul's journey", Copeland has a clear agenda for doing this, and the movie is basically a plea for a renewable and sustainable world. Last but not least, the documentary features a great soundtrack (courtesy of Didier Lockwood), and the occasional song (best of all: Canada's own Besnard Lakes' epic "Like The Ocean. Like The Innocent", which plays over the end titles). Somewhat surprisingly there are no bonus materials of any kind on the DVD (unless you want to call a 2 min. commercial for Copeland's "Antarctica: A Global Warning" book a "bonus feature", as the DVD jacket actually does).

I stumbled upon this movie while browsing the documentary section of my local library. So glad that I found this. For another recent documentary with even better jaw-dropping footage, I can instantly and readily suggest you check out "Chasing Ice", dealing with glaciers in Greenland, Iceland and Alaska. Meanwhile, "Into the Cold" is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

This film is in serious need of an edit -- way, way too long and a complete ego trip for the filmmaker. A mere nod to the so much more harrowing Arctic expeditions that went before them and, really, didn't he realize where all that fancy high tech gear they were using comes from? That maybe, just maybe it's our love of high tech causing the problem of climate change the filmmaker preaches against? I bought this movie thinking it would take me to places I would never see in person, but all I saw were young men making endless preparations (boring), finally getting to their starting point, and then walking, walking, walking. The most interesting part were the still photographs, which were included at one point. Like another reviewer said, wait for TV -- save your money.