Ghost Elephants

At some point in his career, Werner Herzog said that his quest in cinema has always consisted of striving to capture an image of something or someone that does not yet exist. This time around, he seeks to find that image by following the dream of Steve Boyes, an ornithologist and explorer obsessed with locating a particular species of elephants that might be the largest of them all. Perhaps it is a dream, perhaps it is a myth—what matters to Herzog is not the scientific relevance of the expedition, but rather the conviction and obstinacy that fuel the will of a man he sees as a more even-keeled incarnation of Captain Ahab. Whether or not the so-called ghost elephants are ever sighted is beside the point, because the cast of this Darwinian adventure includes trackers, a king, other scientists on unusual missions, hunters, musicians and shamans—presences that add a beautifully polyphonic character to the narrative. Herzog’s voice guides the story, and in doing so he introduces his doubts and conjectures, not free of scepticism, yet always dazzled by human experience and the marvels of animal life. Astonishing sequences are not lacking, including a ravishing passage that unfolds underwater. (Roger Koza)

Werner Herzog (selection): AGUIRRE, DER ZORN GOTTES (1972), JEDER FÜR SICH UND GOTT GEGEN ALLE (1974), STROSZEK (1976), NOSFERATU: PHANTOM DER NACHT (1978), WOYZECK (1978), FITZCARRALDO (1982), GRIZZLY MAN (2005), THE WILD BLUE YONDER (2005), ENCOUNTERS AT THE END OF THE WORLD (2007), MY SON, MY SON, WHAT HAVE YE DONE (2009), BAD LIEUTNANT: PORT OF CALL NEW ORLEANS (2009), CAVE OF FORGOTTEN DREAMS (2010), INTO THE ABYSS (2011), QUEEN OF THE DESERT (2015), MEETING GORBACHEV (2018), THE FIRE WITHIN: A REQUIEM FOR KATIA AND MAURICE KRAFFT (2022)