He's a director well known to lovers of the Deep South. The man behind"La Marche de L'Empereur", which won the Oscar for Best Documentary Film in 2006, as well as"La Glace et le Ciel" and "L'Empereur", Luc Jacquet returns to the cinema this winter with a documentary honoring Antarctica, which he first fell in love with thirty years ago.
Entitled"Voyage au pôle Sud" (Journey to the South Pole), this new documentary is a wonderful invitation to travel and discover the White Continent, which never ceases to fascinate mankind. If you're into action movies, thrillers and island paradises, then you'll have to pass. On the other hand, if you dream of polar landscapes, and if wild nature and wide-open spaces fill you with wonder, then head off to the cinema on December 20, 2023 to discover Luc Jacquet's "Journey to the South Pole".
For his new documentary (lasting 1h22), Luc Jacquet makes the bold choice of black and white, revealing a powerful and striking aesthetic, all enhanced by an incredible soundtrack.
A veritable poetic immersion in the frozen lands of Antarctica, where the sound of the wind is almost omnipresent,"Voyage au pôle Sud" is above all a declaration of love to wild nature and to this White Continent, whose beauty has never ceased to fascinate mankind, particularly the explorers of a century ago. While Luc Jacquet doesn't mention any of the valiant adventurers who attempted to reach the Southern Continent, we can't help but think of Irishman Ernest Shackleton, Norwegian Roald Amundsen and Commander Charcot.
But before setting foot once again on this impressive piece of extreme land, as magnetic as it is dangerous, the journey is long and eventful. Luc Jacquet 's journey begins in Patagonia, one of the 4 gateways (his favorite) to this " balcony of the world ". " Tierra del Fuego, Cape Horn and the Strait of Magellan are mythical places that have remained wild," he murmurs in this documentary, in which Luc Jacquet also acts as narrator. Then comes the very long crossing by boat, with its deep, frightening waves.
Then comes the moment of reunion with Antarctica, this 14-million-square-kilometer white paradise, and the animals that populate it: the emperor penguin, of course, with whom Luc Jacquet has such a special bond, but also the blue whale, the Adélie penguin, the Weddell seal, the leopard seal, not forgetting the penguins that the director humorously compares to " kids on a school trip ".
Luc Jacquet 's silhouette appears sparingly throughout the documentary, helping to show the immensity of these polar landscapes, where we must feel minuscule in the face of so much beauty.
Beautiful, poetic, soothing and deeply moving, with sublime images,"Journey to the South Pole" is also a documentary that leads us to reflect on the future of climate, biodiversity and the unique status established by the Madrid Treaty in 1991. A land of peace and science, Antarctica is more than ever a place to be protected. At least, that's Luc Jacquet's wish, since in 1991 he discovered the White Continent for the first time on a scientific visit during his studies as a biologist. It's a Continent that will never leave him, and which he invites us to discover, with his poetic eye, from December 20, 2023 at the cinema.
