Later, Herzog visits the Crary Science Lab, where he encounters a marine biologist holding a desiccated, shriveled object. The scientist explains that it is the "cream of the crop"—
This approach has made Herzog a deeply contentious figure in documentary studies. Some critics find his interventions manipulative, his voice-over pompous, his filmmaking disjointed. One user review on IMDb complains that the film is “a hodgepodge of Herzog’s encounters with various Antarctic researchers and residents; there is no apparent order or theme.” Others, however, see this apparent chaos as the film’s greatest strength. As Roger Ebert wrote, “Herzog is like no other filmmaker, and to return to him is to be welcomed into a world vastly larger and more peculiar than the one around us.” Encounters at the End of the World
That moment encapsulates everything that Herzog is doing in this film. He is not interested in facts. Facts are available elsewhere. He is interested in the poetic truth that emerges when human beings confront something larger than themselves — a volcano, a glacier, a deranged penguin, the endless silence of the Antarctic ice. Later, Herzog visits the Crary Science Lab, where
If you'd like to explore this topic further, tell me what you want to focus on: One user review on IMDb complains that the
One of the most famous, and frequently memed, scenes in the film comes when Herzog interviews a penguin expert. He asks if penguins are gay, if they go crazy, and why they act so strange.