The Endurance
I just watched The Endurance: Shackleton’s Legendary Antarctic Expedition is a 2000 documentary directed by George Butler. The film tells the story of Ernest Shackleton and his expedition to cross the newly discovered South Pole and claim it for England. He set out with 28 crew members, including himself.
A day before reaching land the temperature dropped 40 degrees and Shackleton’s ship The Endurance was frozen in the ice. Over the next three years the stranded crew fought to stay alive and eventually rescued themselves through a series of unbelievable trials. Astonishingly, the entire 28 member crew survived.
The documentary is a collection of photos and film reels collected from the expedition. The film is narrated by Liam Neeson.
The documentary itself is simply that: a documentary. It’s technique varies very little from a History Channel doc. The thing that makes this film so inspiring is the story. I don’t believe a tougher group of men have ever existed. (I know my generation could never hold a candle to the strong willed crew of The Endurance.)
An hour into the film Neeson reads from the diary of one of the crewmen. He says the men have finally become so overwhelmed that a few have broken into tears. Just a few. Keep in mind that this was over a year after being stuck in the ice surviving on seal meat and small rations of water. Not to mention days of breaking ice and towing their own one ton rescue ship across miles of ice. The only thing I was thinking during the whole film was, “Men today are such pansies.”
Bottom Line: Not a very original documentary but an inspiring story of true endurance. Add it to your queue. And then spend a few minutes trying to imagine how you would react in the same situation. Would you survive?
