(1919) Directed by Frank Hurley; Starring: Ernest Shackleton, Frank Worsley, J. Stenhouse, Leonard D.A. Hussey, James McIlroy; Available on Blu-ray and DVD
Rating: ****
“We have been compelled to abandon the ship, which is crushed beyond all hope of ever being righted, we are alive and well, and we have stores and equipment for the task that lies before us. The task is to reach land with all the members of the Expedition. It is hard to write what I feel.” – Ernest Shackleton (excerpted from Shackleton’s journal)
As one of the last (mostly) unspoiled frontiers on Earth, Antarctica remains an icy enigma, too remote and inhospitable for permanent residence, yet oddly irresistible for those intrepid enough to test their mettle against the elements. South (1919) chronicling the travails of Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton and his crew, is as close as many of us might care to get to the South Pole. This was Shackleton’s third attempt to conquer Antarctica (his previous unsuccessful attempts were in 1907 and 1909). When Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen and his team reached the South Pole in December 1911, they raised the bar for Shackleton, for what would be the most ambitious expedition to date – an overland crossing of the Antarctic continent.* The 28-man crew** of the Endurance*** set out for Antarctica from Buenos Aires, Argentina in October1914. Although they never reached the continent, stopping just shy of their initial goal, what followed was a testament to Shackleton’s leadership and his crew’s fortitude. Thankfully for the rest of the world, Australian photographer Frank Hurley was there to capture the voyage for posterity, through motion picture footage and stills.***
* Fun Fact #1: Described by Shackleton as “the last great polar journey that can be made,” he intended to start in Vahsel Bay and after a hike across the continent, end at the Ross Sea.
** Fun Fact #2: The 28th crewmember was a young Welsh stowaway, Percy “Perce” Blackborow, who had been rejected due to inexperience. When he was discovered three days into the voyage, Shackleton angrily confronted him, stating “On missions like this, stowaways were the first to get eaten.”
*** Fun Fact #3: Built in Norway in 1912 and originally named Polaris, the ship was purchased by Shackleton for £14,000 and re-named Endurance.
**** Fun Fact #4: The world almost missed the opportunity to
see photographic evidence of Shackleton’s voyage. When the order was given to
abandon ship, Frank Hurley was forced to leave all his photographic plates
behind. He later returned to the Endurance, wading through icy waters and
broken timbers inside the doomed ship to retrieve his photographic plates.
Because of their considerable bulk, he could only take 120 of the 550 recovered
plates, while the others were destroyed.
Long before the immersive experiences of IMAX movies or state-of-the-art theme park attractions, South was the next best thing to exploring the seventh continent first-hand. From scenes depicting the crew awkwardly setting up a tent atop an ice floe, to retrieving biological specimens from the frigid waters without gloves, you can practically feel the bitter cold permeating every image. Perhaps the most haunting imagery involved still photos of the Endurance, trapped in the ice for 11 months, before succumbing to the elements and sinking into the Weddell Sea.* Seeing the once proud ship becoming one with the landscape is surreal and painterly.
* Fun Fact #5: In 2022, the wreck of the Endurance was located at a depth of 10,000 feet (3 kilometers), remarkably intact.
The crew’s struggle for survival under the harshest possible conditions, often required desperate measures. To supplement their dwindling food supplies, the crew’s diet included seals and penguins.* With the exception of frozen strips of seal meat being harvested, the audience is spared most of the gory details. One of the biggest omissions was an explanation why the expedition’s 69 sled dogs disappeared about two-thirds of the way in. Considering the film was intended for a broad audience, it was probably the most sensible decision, if not the most truthful.**
* Fun Fact #6: At least one crew member, Thomas McLeod, refused to eat penguins, due to an old mariner’s superstition that the birds’ bodies contained the souls of dead fishermen.
** Not-So-Fun-Fact: With food running out and no viable way
to support the dogs, the expedition leaders made the difficult decision to have
them shot and subsequently eaten (Sorry, fellow animal lovers).
Without their ship or a means of communicating to the outside world, the crew were left stranded on Elephant Island. How Shackleton’s crew were rescued was an ordeal that could have merited its own documentary.* Shackleton, along with five crew members, made the arduous 800-mile journey in the 22-foot lifeboat, “James Caird,” from Elephant Island to South Georgia Island to seek help, braving tremendous storms, immense waves, and continual ice build-up (which someone had to break up by hand, while sitting on the edge of the boat). Once they arrived on its shores, Shackleton and a couple of his more able-bodied men made a 36-hour trek over miles of uncharted mountainous terrain to reach the whaling village of Stromness. In August 1916, help finally arrived on Elephant Island, with Shackleton on the Chilean navy ship Yelcho.
* Fun Fact #7: Because Hurley did not accompany Shackleton
on the trek to South Georgia, all footage of the island was filmed after the
fact, in 1917.
Although we’re introduced to the names of many of the crew members, we never get more than a cursory description. The only exception was meteorologist L. Hussey, who entertained the crew with his banjo (described as the ship’s “vital mental tonic”). South focuses on the romance of adventure, rather than many of the nasty bits in-between. After describing Shackleton’s adventure on South Georgia Island, the film spends a little too much time (filmed after the fact) depicting the wildlife that managed to thrive there. With most modern viewers already accustomed to decades of nature documentaries (Thanks, Marlin Perkins and David Attenborough!), it’s important to remember that the world was a much more mysterious place in the early 20th century, and South afforded audiences the opportunity to see animals they had never seen before. As imperfect as South may be, we’re fortunate to have this window into another time and place. It’s almost miraculous that the entire crew survived their ordeal under tremendous hardship and South remains a tribute to human persistence and resilience in the face of adversity, serving as a reminder that there are still some places left on Earth we haven’t managed to conquer.
Sources for this article: Blu-ray commentary by film
historian Luke McKernan, “Endurance: Shackleton’s Lost Ship is Found inAntarctic,” by Jonathan Amos, BBC (March 8, 2022);
“Endurance: The Newport Stowaway on Shackleton Shipwreck,” by Neil Prior, BBC
(February 26, 2022);
“Shackleton’s Endurance,” Falklands Heritage Maritime Trust (website)
