A hundred years ago the British Antarctic Expedition (1910-1913) led by Captain Scott set out on its ill-fated race to the South Pole. Joining Scott on board the Terra Nova was official photographer and cinematographer Herbert Ponting, and the images that he captured have fired imaginations ever since.
Ponting filmed almost every aspect of the expedition: the scientific work, life in camp and the local wildlife - including the characterful Adélie penguins. Those things he was unable to film he boldly recreated back home. Most importantly, Ponting recorded the preparations for the assault on the Pole - from the trials of the caterpillar track sledges to clothing and cooking equipment - giving us a real sense of the challenges faced by the expedition. Read more …
Ponting used his footage in various forms over the years and in 1924 he re-edited it into this remarkable feature, complete with vivid tinting and toning. The BFI National Archive - custodian of the Expedition negatives - has restored the film using the latest photochemical and digital techniques and reintroduced the film’s sophisticated use of colour. The alien beauty of the landscape is brought dramatically to life and the world of the expedition revealed in brilliant detail.
With a new score by Simon Fisher Turner featuring the composer, the Elysian Quartet, Sarah Scutt, David Coulter and Alexander L'Estrange.
A sparkling restoration.
Restored to commemorate the centenaries of Scott’s arrival at the South Pole and his death, this is cinema at its most awe-inspiring. You’ll be hard pushed to find a more purely thrilling cinema experience.
A deeply moving account of Scott’s sea journey south from New Zealand and, once his team reaches Antarctica, their preparations for the long walk.
Herbert Ponting's film is both a pioneering effort that encapsulates a bygone era in wonderful images and a personal, at times idiosyncratic work that lets his own mind interpret what he sees around him.
A bang-up BFI restoration of this remarkable 1924 documentary.
The tragic outcome of Captain Scott’s ill-fated venture is well-known, but it’s never been so vividly presented as in this excellent restoration.
General release. Check local listings for show times.
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