The White Diamond

Grizzily Man was not even considered for the Oscar nominations in documentary for a reason. This was simply because it was not included on the ballot paper. This was Werener Herzog's choice. He has no time for playing the Hollywood game. Though it would've been wonderful to see him win it, you've got to admire the man's integrity. He remains one of the greatest and most original film makers at work today. The White Diamond is no exception. It starts out almost like a typical BBC documentary, but it quickly becomes apparent that this man is no ordinary professor, but yet another human being with obsessive drive of dreams and vision. Where does Herzog find these people! May he continue to illuminated us.

Herzog's films are often about rulebreakers, visionaries and daredevils, something which he has always been himself. Being a daredevil flirting with death makes one feel alive, which is no small thing, but being a daredevil flirting with something even larger than death, is ecstasy. In this film, Herzog, his film crew and a small band of scientists headed by aeronautical engineer Graham Dorrington, head off to a remote area of Guyana to fly a newfangled zeppelin just a toe's length above the treetops of the jungle. Dorrington has his legitimate reasons for the usefulness of his invention, as does Herzog in documenting what may be an important new discovery in science and technology. But both of these men, as well as us in the audience, see these men's laughably primitive jabs at besting nature shrunken by the grandeur of the nature surrounding them. From the fierce power of the waterfall where they are camped out, to the unfathomable grace and sheer numbers of the birds who dwell behind it, the plight of two little men in a motorized air balloon is almost comical. I say almost because a man died in such an attempt ten years earlier - a scene that is described in chillingly vivid detail by Dorrington. Also, there is a kind of nobility in man's stubborn desire to defy his relatively scrawny limitations against nature. Whether it's Fitzcarraldo dragging a steamship over a mountain, Herzog himself trying to make the steamship climb the mountain for his film, or Dr. Dorrington sailing the skies in a contraption that seems as fragile as a butterfly, the dream is everything. The dreams of Herzog's characters - be they real or fictional - are usually short-lived, but at least the dreams do come alive briefly. If I could sum up everything that is great in Herzog's films, it would be in one awesome scene in this film where Herzog shoots the upside-down reflection of the mighty waterfall in a falling drop of rain. This moment, this reflection, this drop of rain is as temporary as life, but in it is the entire universe in all of its beauty, majesty and fragility. If that's not ecstasy, I don't know what is!

At one point in the development of air travel, the zeppelin was seen as the future. However after the Hindenburg disaster its days were essentially numbered although, decades later, London University lecturer Dr Dorrington has always had a dream of producing a small zeppelin to glide over the unexplored tree tops of a South American jungle. A previous attempt left a nature cinematographer dead so Dorrington is nervous about this next project and the responsibility he feels he has. As he reaches the endgame of his project he is joined Having only seen a couple of Herzog films I cannot refuge the comments of other reviewers that have said this is poor by his standards but for me I found it mostly very interesting. We only share a few scenes with Dorrington outside of the jungle and it is to the benefit of the film because it allows it to bring in things other than just his personality and his mission. So we look at some of the legends in the jungle and get to know some of the locals – specifically Mark Anthony who is funny and interesting, even if Herzog goes a bit far in painting him as some sort of great man to be learnt from. The main focus is still interesting, although I personally struggled to see the value in it, it was still engaging to watch it all come together and fall apart at different times.

At times the delivery by the individuals is a problem. Dorrington is a normal, driven person when he is not talking to camera but when he addresses the camera directly he suddenly turns into a sort of pre-school teacher. Given that he is a university lecturer I was surprised by the way he spoke in childish terms and strengthened his point by widening his eyes and making noises – at any point I expected him to take me through the square window. Herzog is OK but he did come off a bit pretentious at times. The best example of this is when he gets a really good shot through a water droplet on a leaf that shows the waterfall perfectly; it is a beautiful shot and is ruined by him asking Marc if he can "see the whole universe if that droplet". Fortunately the film keeps these "gems" to a minimum and mostly it is very engaging – the one take where Dorrington described the accident that happened a decade before is horribly enthralling.

The film looks good – someone else describing it as being home movie standard just doesn't know what he is talking about. I would have liked a lot more inspiring footage but there are still some excellently captured views and the sight of this perfect "white diamond" floating in the sky is a pleasing contrast to the rich greens and blues of the jungle. Overall an interesting documentary despite the delivery problems of the people, the occasional touch of pretension and the vanity value of the project and well worth seeing.

Herzog loves to explore the nature within. He has been doing this ever since he started out as a filmmaker. Aguirre, Wrath of God is a good example. There nature mirrors what is happening with in the persons. He does that same thing here.

A lesser filmmaker would only have concentrated on the technical marvel and the landscape. He/she would have overlooked the dreams and life of Marc Anthony Yhap (a hired hand) and Graham Dorrington's bleeding heart because of mistakes in the past. Inner landscape which are just as fascinating as the thousands of birds diving under the waterfall or the reflection in the raindrop.

I thought this film was like a meditation on life, past, present, dreams, failures, cultures and harmony with nature. I loved how Herzog would keep the shots longer than most directors would have, like when Graham Dorrington puts on his jet suit and pretend to fly like superman. And the landscape pictures where just breathtaking.

This is one of Herzog's best film, and that's saying a lot.

In "The White Diamond," famed documentary filmmaker Werner Herzog has fashioned a quirky, visually beautiful tribute to all the risk takers and dreamers who make exploration and discovery possible.

Herzog has chosen for his subject Dr. Graham Dorrington, an aeronautics engineer who has invented a small, helium-powered airship that allows him to fly over and into the canopy of the South American rainforest in order to study the richly varied life forms that inhabit that hitherto unexplored area of the planet's biosphere. Dorrington, who comes across as part humanitarian scientist and part lovable crackpot, is nothing if not eager to share his adventures with Herzog and his crew of brave filmmakers.

Even though there is much of interest in the setting-up stage of the experiment and the short history of aviation Herzog provides at the beginning, the movie itself is almost so lackadaisical in its approach that it often feels unfocused and devoid of passion, but once Dorrington and Herzog himself are airborne, with the camera moving in for unbelievably tight close-ups of the creatures living within the soaring treetops, the movie becomes a treasure trove of rare and wonderful sights that even the least nature-oriented among us will find impossible to forget.

This is one of the least flashy documentary films you will ever see. For despite the very real risks to life and limb involved in the project, this is a work that finds its beauty and drama in the serene majesty of the setting and the elegant simplicity of the airship itself. More mood piece than scientific document, "The White Diamond" should appeal as much to the poet as to the adventurer in all of us.