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January 27, 2012 | Theatre,
Check out these films, books and music related to 69° S.
By Corrie Glanville
FILMS
With narration by actor Liam Neeson, this award-winning documentary on Ernest Shackleton’s 1914-16 expedition to Antarctica in an effort to be the first man to cross the entire continent includes new footage of the actual locations and interviews with surviving relatives of Shackleton’s crew. Along with still photos taken at the time, the documentary features archived audio interviews with expedition members.
Using first hand accounts from the men on the expedition, director Charles Sturidge’s dramatization stays meticulously close to historical fact. With a stellar performance by Kenneth Branagh in the lead, the film was shot on actual ice floes in Greenland to recreate the look of the surviving photos. Branagh manages to capture both the enormous ego of Shackleton as well as his absolute determination to keep all of his men alive in this riveting mini-series.
The Last Place on Earth (1985)
Prior to Ernest Shackleton’s famed journey to Antarctica, British Captain Robert F. Scott and his Norwegian rival, Roald Amundsen raced each other to the South Pole in 1911. This thrilling Masterpiece Theatre series from the late 1980s features Martin Shaw as Scott and portrays the extreme temperatures, suffering and exhaustion of the 1,500 mile trek across the desolate tundra. You also might recognize a young Hugh Grant as Apsley Cherry-Garrard, one of the few English survivors of the journey.
BOOKS
South: The Endurance Expedition by Ernest Shackleton & Frank Hurley (1917)
Just days before the outbreak of the World War I in August 1914, the renowned explorer Ernest Shackleton and his crew of 27 set sail for the South Atlantic in an effort to complete the first crossing on foot of the entire Antarctic continent. Within 85 miles of their destination, their ship, Endurance, became trapped in the ice. Unable to move, their ordeal lasted over 20 months. South is Shackleton’s own account of one of the most remarkable epics in modern history.
The Endurance: Shackleton’s Legendary Antarctic Expedition by Caroline Alexander (1998)
Published in conjunction with the American Museum of Natural History, this hauntingly beautiful book features text from previously unavailable sources as well as the entire collection of original photographs taken by Frank Hurley. The fact the images survived at all is almost as unbelievable as the journey itself: the negatives were stored in canisters, survived moths on ice floes and more months on Elephant Island. Even though Hurley had to leave his professional equipment behind, he captured some of the most devastating images with just a pocket camera and three rolls of Kodak film expertly reproduced in this treasure of a book.
An ALA Be st Book for Young Adults, Jennifer Armstrong’s Shipwreck at the Bottom of the World vividly re-creates the Shackleton expedition and includes over 40 photographs. Young readers won’t want to put down this unbelievable story filled with detail about the Endurance and its extraordinary leader who brought home every one of his men alive. For ages 10-12.
MUSIC
It is difficult to believe the Kronos Quartet has been playing music for over 35 years, recorded nearly 40 albums and given over 3,000 performances worldwide. Their commitment to pushing the boundaries of their repertoire makes them unique among classical musicians as well as incredibly popular. With 1.5 million records sold, they have conquered more than one Billboard chart including their 1992 Pieces of Africa which reached #1 on Billboard World Music chart and their 1995 Kronos Quartet Performs Philip Glass, which spent 12 weeks on the classical charts. In addition to recording the music for 69˚S., the title work on Steve Reich’s WTC 9/11 commissioned for the Kronos Quartet is now available on Nonesuch Records.
Puppeteer Erik Sanko co-founded Phantom Limb with his wife Jessica Grindstaff, an installation artist, painter and set designer to explore less traditional forms of puppetry. But Sanko is also a talented musician, who has played with John Cale, Yoko Ono and Jim Carroll and spent 16 years with the band The Lounge Lizards. In 1994, Sanko met guitarist/vocalist Chris Maxwell and formed Skeleton Key, a junk-rock quartet. After bringing in drummer Steve Calhoon and Rick Lee, the trio discovered their sound in playing “garbage” incorporating an old table, propane tanks, chairs, film reels, a red wagon, and pots and pans. In 1996, Skeleton Key issued their self-titled debut on Motel Records and earned a Grammy nomination for their full-length debut Fantastic Spikes Through Balloon in 1997.
Along with current band mates Benjamin Clapp, Craig LeBlang, Bob Vaccarelli, Sanko describes his vision for Skeleton Key: “We’re the ambassadors and missionaries of our own delightfully cryptic version of subterranean New York rock. We’re like medieval Crusaders, minus the torture part.”
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