Werner Herzog profiles Steve Boyes who is trying to see if he can track any relatives of the elephant known as Henry, aka the Fenykovi elephant who was shot and killed in the 1930’s and is in display at the Smithsonian. Henry is the biggest elephant known to have been killed by a human being, and Boyes thinks he is part of an unclassified species of giant elephants. Herzog and Boyes go into wild to see what they can find.
I’m kind of confused that National Geographic would have Herzog make a documentary for them. It’s not that there is a problem with Herzog’s documentaries, rather they tend to be about things not so much in the frame. Herzog is always reaching for a greater understanding of the universe by looking beyond the normal. Here Herzog isn’t just looking for elephants but examining, among other things, why we would gout and search for elephants. There is this moment about 38 minutes into the film where, where Boyes said that things don’t matter if they actually find the elephants and that perhaps it would be better if it remained a dream. If this was any other documentary by Herzog the film would have ended there. Boyes after all gives us the great revelation which is the sort of thing Herzog normally looks for. However, in this case the film keeps going for another hour. What follows isn’t bad, it’s a National Geographic documentary filtered through the hands of one of the greatest directors ever, which if you know Herzog’s docs means you know what you are getting- something you think you know but really don't.
Herzog knows he must do a lot more than his typical soul searching and as a result we get a film that goes into a lot of interesting places. For example, in trying to explain the scale of the destruction of the elephants over the years he turns to the infamous film AFRICA ADDIO so that he can use the footage of the helicopter elephant hunts and the endless carnage left behind. It’s a stunning moment that anyone not familiar with the earlier film is going to find rocks their world.(For a discussion of that film go here) Herzog makes his point and then some. He also gives us a look at the trackers they use to find the elephants (and which could have been a film untoi themselves)
To be completely honest I’m not sure all of this works. While never bad the mystical nature of Herzog’s style doesn’t always mesh with your typical Smithsonian films. The tone feels off. Yes the information is great, but at the same time it isn’t as smooth as it should be.
At the same time it’s a Herzog film which makes it better than almost any other film out there.
Recommended.
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