This documentary (and it is a documentary, not a docudrama) won an Academy Award for Documentary Feature and deserved to win. There are a number of things in this documentary which could be most unsettling to the faint-hearted, so not only is this a spoiler warning, but some of what I cover may be disturbing, so be forewarned:
This documentary covers the trek of a scientific mission to try and map the uncharted area of the island of New Guinea. It starts out with the team flying in and features the only bit of forced drollery in the beginning with a comment about one guy's evident interest in the air hostess. In the main, the narration is on point and informative.
Evidently, some do not grasp a basic and essential reality, to judge by some of the comments I've seen, so I have a few observations to make here. One, the company numbered over seventy when they met up with their porters. They initially planned to make as much of the trip to the base of the mountains (the climbing portion of the expedition) by water, which would allow them to carry more supplies, including food, for a longer part of the trip, but had to change plans and go on foot, trying to carry as much of their equipment and supplies as they could. It is practically impossible for enough food to be carried by men traveling on foot on a journey of that length for a period of five to seven months, even if all they carried was food. So they either have to be able to live off the land (which they did, to a degree, though when anything you don't recognize could prove lethal if consumed, this has practical limits) or someone has to drop supplies like food and medicine to you. That's just a practical reality of this kind of project.
Second, on a trip like this, everyone pitches in-no one, unless they are ill, is dead weight. It's just a practical necessity. Everyone had to carry their own weight.
Third, they were encountering tribes which could as easily decided to kill them as interact with them. The skulls and bones weren't decorative props on a movie set. They were very real. They faced danger most of the time they were out there, in one form or another-from sheer drops in the higher elevations to wild animals to being swept away in the rapids when attempting to cross the rivers. This was not a walk in the park.
I am in awe of the individuals who took this trip, both for their physical efforts and the hardships they (willingly) undertook (which I could not do) and for their behavior towards the tribes they encountered there. They weren't condescending and, apart from the understandable and (at least to me) justifiable horror at the clear evidence of cannibalism, the observations of the customs were remarkably free from judgment and were respectful.
This is available on DVD, along with the film Black and White In Color and the DVD is well worth having. Most recommended.
This documentary covers the trek of a scientific mission to try and map the uncharted area of the island of New Guinea. It starts out with the team flying in and features the only bit of forced drollery in the beginning with a comment about one guy's evident interest in the air hostess. In the main, the narration is on point and informative.
Evidently, some do not grasp a basic and essential reality, to judge by some of the comments I've seen, so I have a few observations to make here. One, the company numbered over seventy when they met up with their porters. They initially planned to make as much of the trip to the base of the mountains (the climbing portion of the expedition) by water, which would allow them to carry more supplies, including food, for a longer part of the trip, but had to change plans and go on foot, trying to carry as much of their equipment and supplies as they could. It is practically impossible for enough food to be carried by men traveling on foot on a journey of that length for a period of five to seven months, even if all they carried was food. So they either have to be able to live off the land (which they did, to a degree, though when anything you don't recognize could prove lethal if consumed, this has practical limits) or someone has to drop supplies like food and medicine to you. That's just a practical reality of this kind of project.
Second, on a trip like this, everyone pitches in-no one, unless they are ill, is dead weight. It's just a practical necessity. Everyone had to carry their own weight.
Third, they were encountering tribes which could as easily decided to kill them as interact with them. The skulls and bones weren't decorative props on a movie set. They were very real. They faced danger most of the time they were out there, in one form or another-from sheer drops in the higher elevations to wild animals to being swept away in the rapids when attempting to cross the rivers. This was not a walk in the park.
I am in awe of the individuals who took this trip, both for their physical efforts and the hardships they (willingly) undertook (which I could not do) and for their behavior towards the tribes they encountered there. They weren't condescending and, apart from the understandable and (at least to me) justifiable horror at the clear evidence of cannibalism, the observations of the customs were remarkably free from judgment and were respectful.
This is available on DVD, along with the film Black and White In Color and the DVD is well worth having. Most recommended.