Captain Robert Falcon Scott became a national treasure, national hero for British after Scott's death had been revealed to the world. Despite the fact that in the course of many years different opinions on the captain have appeared in media, it is agreed that his last expedition to the Antarctic was a remarkable event in British history. On Wednesday, 20th October 54th BFI London Film Festival is going to premiere restored documentary footage of the expedition on the big screen.
Roald Amusden Reaches the Pole First.
To be honest I am not sure what the whole fuss is about but I guess nations generally like creating and then glorifying heroes (have a look at Poland as a good example). First of all, the expedition was a great failure that deserves being remembered (only?) because of its tragic aspect. Captain Scott's expedition of 1910 was the second he led to the Antarctic.
Many things went wrong then - from dying dogs and ponies that had been taken on board to help the crew to the fact that Roald Amusden of Norwegian origin got to the South Pole first. That was disappointing, frustrating and Captain Scott described it in his diary very clearly. His ambition was to bring honour to his country but it was never to be the case. I do not want to get into too much details about the expedition itself. I would rather focus on the expedition leftovers and these are pretty impressive.
Herbert Ponting Joins the Expedition.
Captain Scott decided to engage a professional photographer and cinematographer to film and photograph everyday life of the crew on their way to the Pole. And indeed Herbert Ponting did a remarkable job as it is a great documentary of its time as well as it gives us, people who have only access to written materials on what really happened, a visual insight into real situations and real events.
Ponting recorded preparations for the expedition, loading the equipment, clothes, animals followed by the ship's departure. He also filmed almost every aspect of the expedition - how their life in tents was, how they cooked meals, fed animals, played football in freezing temperatures, etc. But, what is the most interesting to me personally, he also took footage of landscapes and wildlife as after all Scott's expedition was supposed to be scientific in its essence.
And here goes the funny part, we would expect from scientific footage to give us scientific details of life and habits of e.g. animals met on the expedition's way. That could be given either in pictures or added commentary. Nevertheless, the commentary is far away from being scientific as Ponting tells us stories of ladies-penguins calling their husbands to come home as dinner is ready! There is plenty of such enjoyable moments so I strongly recommend watching the whole film.
BFI National Archive Restores Ponting's Footage.
Over the years Ponting used his footage in various ways and in 1924 he re-edited it into an amazing feature known as The Great White Silence, adding to it vivid toning and tinting. BFI National Archive possess the expedition negatives in their collection and have recently accomplished a long process of restoration combining traditional photochemical with digital techniques.
The colours have recovered after a long time of fade. The intertitles have gained their reach black again. It actually is really hard to say from the film if the added tint did follow any particular pattern corresponding with the visuals. Perhaps it was Ponting's artistic vision materialised for the sake of having one. Or perhaps my eye did not catch something very obvious? Nevertheless, having in mind how demanding today's viewer is, I think the restored version of The Great White Silence is both a great witness of its time and a good piece of entertainment.
Other texts on restoration of silent films: Digital Restoration of Metropolis, Fritz Lang's Masterpiece
Magdalena Wolyniec - Magdalena is a writer, blogger, author and translator. She holds a Master's Degree in Cultural Studies with History and Theory of Film as ...
Join the Conversation