Where the Green Ants Dream

Where the Green Ants Dream

Where the Green Ants Dream

When Herzog misses, he missed badly. Although it's not nearly as wretched as Even Dwarfs started small, where the soundtrack alone made it unwatchable, it's certainly a harsh slog to endure. There's the trademark cinematography, capturing bleak uninviting places in a very clever and alluring way. His eye for that never falters. Everything else fails to work. It's just a very uninteresting movie with very bland characters spouting dialogue that I was completely indifferent to. The Natives were treated with dignity, but sadly none of them could act worth spit. Honestly, as with the aforementioned Dwarfs disasterpiece, I couldn't endure the entire film. It was painfully clear from the outset that nothing could possible happen to drag the movie off the path it unfortunately started out on.

I'd been after seeing this film for a long time given the subject matter and the fact that Herzog is one of my all-time favourite directors. Unsurprisingly, I loved it. The story explores Aboriginal folklore in a sensative and captivating way and can be ranked alongside other genre classics like THE LAST WAVE and THE CHANT OF JIMMY BLACKSMITH. Herzog's wonderful cinematography brings the landscapes to beautiful life and the courtroom drama is just as engaging as the on-site hostility. Great to see the usual supporting actor Bruce Spence given a meatier role, too. Along the way, Herzog delivers many scenes that will stay in my mind a long time.

There are three distinct styles of German director Werner Herzog's films. There are his great, deep, and memorable fictive films- such as Aguirre: The Wrath Of God, The Enigma Of Kaspar Hauser, and Fitzcarraldo, there are his smaller evocative documentary-like films- such as Fata Morgana, Little Dieter Needs To Fly, and Grizzly Man, and then there are his unclassifiable films- such as Even Dwarfs Started Small, Heart Of Glass, and 1984's Where The Green Ants Dream (Wo Die Grünen Ameisen Traümen). Whereas Even Dwarfs Started Small is an enigmatic study on Fascism that is beyond evaluation on a normal scale, and Heart Of Glass was filmed with its actors hypnotized, Where The Green Ants Dream is an odd concoction that mixes all three of Herzog's styles, along with the excellent cinematography of Jorg Schmidt-Reitwein, in its 95 minute running time. Where The Green Ants Dream is not Herzog at his greatest, but it is an interesting and good little film that rises above the contemporary condescending approach to Natives, and compels anyone who starts watching it to finish watching it. Just compare it to the ongoing American obsessions with Noble Savage Native Americans and Mystical Negroes, and the difference is clear. In the commentary, Herzog even laments that this film is too preachy at times, in scenes with both the Elders and the small minded Arnold, and how his own personal disagreement with the Green parties around the world are due to their lack of empathy for humans, while praising nature at all costs. It is especially noteworthy to compare this film to the work of Native American director Chris Eyre, who made Smoke Signals and Skins, for one can see numerous areas where the younger director could learn much from a Master like Herzog, who, even when not in top form, can create compelling art that lasts, even if in ways as odd as his subject matter.

Interesting account on the fight for land rights by the Aboriginals who are up against a mining company that do the dirty on them by disturbing the land where the green ants dream! The message comes across through this sometimes messy film.

The geologist Lance Hackett is employed by an Australian mining company to map the subsoil of a desert area covered with ant hills prior to a possible uranium extraction. His work is impeded by some aborigines who explain that this is the place where the green ants dream. Werner Herzog makes great films, and he is quite prolific in what he does. His career sees to be divided between unusual drama and documentaries of different cultures. This film, perhaps more than any other of his work, really blends the two. While not a documentary, it really tries to celebrate aborigine culture. Of all the films based in Australia, this is one of the better ones. It may not be reality, but it is in some ways better than reality. Herzog creates a world that is completely believable.

I probably saw this film back in in 1984 and it still sticks to my memory. I honestly don't know if that's good or bad. What i do know is that a film still with me after almost 20 years deserve a comment. When I went out of the theater i thought to my self that this must be the worst film ever. But as time has gone by, and the film still stick I'm no longer so sure. The film was first of all my first encounter with aborigines, and it made me feel sad on their behalf. Second of all, the opening scene with native music and majestic nature, is one of the best ever made. This is not a 10, to the ordinary viewer but to me it gets close.

I really liked this movie. I liked the respect that was offered and given by both the native demonstrators and the geologist. This film prompted thought, thought about what is valued when death approaches, whether that is seen as death of an individual or a people. The mining company stands on the foundation of its legal right to proceed with what the contemporary civilization values, and some scoff the values of the natives. But if we listen we hear that is something we all must address when asking of ourselves what is sacred and will we protect and defend that in the face of our own extinction, because clearly the law is not designed to protect the sacred, but to settle a dispute. We are an amalgam of the characters, the native voice that seeks self perpetuation of tribe and story, the company voice that works for progress and acquisition of wealth, the mediator and thinker voice that comes through the geologist, and the law which strives of order in chaos. These tensions of the human condition, are made so vivid in the land and skies of the Australian outback.

Some idiot claims that this movie is horrible but I would argue that this he/she is mistaken. None of the dialog is improvised though the performances are raw which the previous reviewer might be confusing with improvisation. Most fans of Herzog are also aware that Herzog's dialog is highly stylized and often surreal which may, to close minded people, be misconstrued as trite or childish. Perhaps it is something one has to get used to or maybe Herzog films are best left to those who are willing to view something out of the ordinary. Of course, not everyone will like everything, but opinions that are expressed should only come from people who are informed as an uninformed opinion is like showing a dog a card trick.