Erebus: Into the Unknown, 2014.
Directed by Charlotte Purdy.
SYNOPSIS:
The true story of the men who came face to face with one of the world’s worst aviation disasters and became part of one of the most extraordinary police operations in history.
Erebus: Into the Unknown charts the real life tragedy that befell New Zealand flight 901 in 1979, a sightseeing flight that took passengers on a trip around Antarctica from Auckland Airport. On one such trip, the plane crashed into Mount Erebus leading to not just an investigation into what had happened, but also a huge recovery operation that was undertook by a group of policemen from Australia and the U.S. to clear the wreckage and look for those who had sadly died in the disaster.
Taking its cue from Touching the Void amongst others, Into the Unknown is a rewarding but raw recollection of the tragic events that took place that day. With interviews with the group of brave police officers who left their normal lives to travel to Antarctica into a situation they were wholly unprepared for, director Charlotte Purdy does a great job balancing the difficulty the officers faced in such harsh conditions alongside the tragic, overwhelming grief that they and the millions across the globe were feeling around the disaster.
A mentally and psychically demanding task for the officers, Purdy does a decent job of recreating just how tough the situation was through some great reconstructions – not just the elements around them which caused emotional and physical fatigue with no darkness for sleep and hundreds of squawking birds hovering around the wreckages almost every minute of every day, but also the emotional stress of clearing up the remains of what was once someone’s life. It’s hard to imagine from the outside looking in just how difficult it must have been keeping sane amongst the cold snap and sorting out the remaining livelihoods of those who perished.
However, despite some excellent reconstruction alongside the real-life accounts, the recreation of the scenes from 1979 feel slightly cheap and more “made for television” than feature. The atmosphere is all there, the pain, the physical and mental demands, but the staging feels more like a cheap TV show rebelling than true feature representation, and the acting levels are adequate at best.
While some of the production is decidedly economical rather than big-screen, Erebus: Into the Unknown is a well told, taut and fascinating look at a horrible human disaster and the brave souls who had insurmountable odds to uncover both the truth and the tragedy. A very worthy watch.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★
Scott J. Davis
https://www.youtube.com/watch?list=PL18yMRIfoszFJHnpNzqHh6gswQ0Srpi5E&v=Z2vq4CudKRk&feature=player_embedded
Originally published January 12, 2015. Updated April 13, 2018.
