BFI's The Great White Silence

bigshot · Post by **bigshot** » Mon May 02, 2016 11:49 am

Last night I screened BFI's blu-ray of The Great White Silence, the documentary filmed by the crew of Captain Scott's disastrous trip to the South Pole. From a historical standpoint the film is important and emotionally devastating. But I had only seen this footage before cut up and reused in modern documentaries- never in its own context. The contrast between the crew playing with penguins and the disaster at the end is a bit jarring. But that is the way it all happened, so it works.

The image quality is superb... perfect contrasts, incredible amount of detail in the weird outer space vistas of the South Pole. The big caveat here is that BFI obviously don't see this film as a historical artifact, they regard it as an expressive film. The tinting tends toward strange neon colors and the soundtrack uses music that paraphrases Pink Floyd. I'm not usually a big fan of this approach, but in this film it works- enhancing the strange otherworldly feel of the desolate outer space landscapes.

I guess this approach is best, because taking it as a straight documentary would emphasize the jarring shift in narrative at the end, and would tend to de-emphasize the incredible natural ice formations and glaciers. I'm glad I got it. If this sort of thing interests you, I recommend it. BFI always does a very good job putting together their blu-rays.

Post by **Christopher Jacobs** » Mon May 02, 2016 4:30 pm

It is a really impressive film with a beautiful Blu-ray transfer, and I agree that the rather odd score (with limited sound effects) does work to create an appropriate mood, even if it's not a period-sounding score.

Better news for North American movie buffs is that the BFI Blu-ray is region free and can be purchased in a dual-pack dual format (DVD/Blu-ray) with the nearly as impressive documentary THE EPIC OF EVEREST for only 15 pounds! Shipping from the U.K. is generally quite reasonable and amazingly fast (typically a week or less). You can also use your existing Amazon account to order from Amazon.co.uk without having to open a new account.

See http://www.blu-ray.com/movies/The-Great ... ray/92580/" target="_blank" target="_blank
http://www.blu-ray.com/movies/The-Great ... serReviews" target="_blank" target="_blank
http://www.blu-ray.com/movies/The-Epic- ... 97/#Review" target="_blank" target="_blank

BFI's The Great White Silence

BFI's The Great White Silence

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