No. 13 (2023) SHACKLETON: THE GREATEST STORY OF SURVIVAL Feb. 25th.

 

Film No. 13 (2023)  February  25th.  11.00 AM   Cinema 5.  LUNA,  Leederville.

 

"We had suffered, starved and triumphed. We had seen God in his splendours. We had reached the naked soul of men". (The emotional words from Shackleton's diaries as he summed up his two years of inconceivable  endurance). 

Channel 4, the U.K. studio, so adept at adapting dramatic retells of significant historical events, created a mini series simply titled SHACKLETON, 20 years ago. It has been said that many people, who'd never heard of the great explorer, and who'd loved the mini series, thought it a wonderful piece of fiction. Who could blame them? Kenneth Branagh playing a leader (Shackleton) of 28 men and 69 dogs hellbent on crossing Antarctica via the South Pole, losing their ship in the crushing ice, having to shoot their dogs, enduring 8 seasons of this, and they all get home alive? That's got to be fiction, doesn't it?

Well no. And, as the title of this magnificent documentary suggests, perhaps the Shackleton expedition, which began in 1914 and ended in 1917, is the greatest story of survival ever told. There is not a shadow of doubt, if it weren't for the man, Sir Ernest Shackleton this story would not exist. Well it would, but it would be in the form of a tragic tale of 28 men and their misguided leader who adventured South and perished. 

Here, in SHACKLETON: THE GREATEST STORY OF SURVIVAL, Tim Jarvis leads us through this infamous journey. Jarvis is an environmentalist and explorer with amazing credentials. While the film is very much a reminder at what is happening to our warming planet, Jarvis uses the Shackleton story to reinforce themes of leadership, endurance, team work, comradery and ultimately survival, using film-making techniques which takes cinema engagement to a new level. 90 minutes in his care, where we experience, re-enactment, digital plotting, face to camera description (on location), the infamous Frank Hurley photographs and image overlay;  we leave the cinema inspired, but exhausted. 

This is an Australian production that has been in the making for years. Jarvis has made it something of a life's work. Considering his story, the re-enactment of some of the legs specific to this story, no one brings more creditability to the content. His story alone would be worth a film. He never shies away from the fact that this documentary is a comment on the planet and where it might be headed. Paralleling his message with a story so riveting, without over preaching, shows Jarvis to be a leader in the realms of Shackleton himself. Maybe, he just might save more than 28 lives, along the way.  11GUMS.