ReaderKenka Let's be realistic.

GazerRise Fantastic!

Acensbart Excellent but underrated film

Afouotos Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

nmlal68 First of all I have to say that I love Werner Herzog's work. He has directed in my opinion some of the best movies and documentary films in old and recent times.There is no doubt that his beautiful camera pace and skills are not missing in "The White Diamond". You see it's a Werner Herzog's film, his passion for wild life in particular and Nature in general is always present, his interest for human drama and condition not being forgotten.The problem is the dispersion from the main theme, which seems to be often neglected and in some cases even sliding into second plan. In other words, while Herzog promises to tell you the story of "The White Diamond", you have the impression that this is not the story he really wants to tell you anymore as if he sudden got bored or disappointed, taking refuge in some other jungle stories. One could speculate about the reasons for this behavior, one being the relationship with the White Diamond's pilot, which seems to be somehow stressed. Another reason could perhaps be that it was not in its due time acknowledged, the central plot not being dense or exciting enough to fill the whole documentary. In fact, when the film supposedly reaches its climax, you have more the sensation of a 'downer', like if everybody is just more than happy that the whole experiment is over so they can pack and go home. There is not a smooth flow of events. The plot seems to get stuck at every corner a little bit like a puzzle, with the pieces not really fitting.Nevertheless, Herzog is Herzog. If you are a fan, you will surely find some strong reasons to see this film.

Tom Gooderson-A'Court Werner Herzog once again goes back to the South American Rainforrest, the setting of his feature films Aguirre, Fitzcarraldo and Cobra Verde. This time Herzog is in Guyana, one of the less known countries of the continent. A small country, with just 700,000 inhabitants, Guyana shares more in common both historically and culturally with the Caribbean Islands than with its giant neighbours to the south. Herzog is in Guyana to meet Dr Graham Dorrington, an aeronautical engineer who is in the jungle to test his latest airship. The story is tinged with sadness though as in a previous test ten years earlier, Dorrington's cinematographer Dieter Plage was killed.The film begins with a brief history of aviation and in particular the history of the airship. Herzog discusses the rapid rise and fall of the popularity of airships before and after the Hindenburg disaster. Herzog first meets Dorrington in his lab in London. He is an excitable and intelligent man with grand ambitions of soaring above the jungle canopy, capturing its unspoiled beauty and collecting samples that could be used in the Pharmaceutical Industry. Dorrington is eccentric but focused and it is obvious how much the expedition and test means to him. The tragedy of ten years earlier is only briefly mentioned and leaves the viewer hanging.Once the action moves to the jungle, the expedition is hit with various problems. There is a bad omen from the outset as a huge storm draws in when the ship is first inflated. Lightning is seen cracking in the background, beneath and deep grey sky. There are more problems as the ship suffers seven technical faults on its maiden flight and the excitable and enthusiastic Dorrington looks like a broken man by the mid point of the film. It is during these initial tests that Herzog meets the stat of the show, a local man named Marc Anthony Yhap. Yhap and other local men were hired to help carry the equipment but when the craft is first inflated, Herzog notices him starring up in wonder at the 'White Diamond' as he calls it. Herzog uses a trick that served him well on Into the Abyss which is to leave the camera rolling once a person has stopped talking. This pressures them into continuing and means they often reveal more. Yhap, despite no formal education speaks with great wisdom and authority and tells the story of his families migration to Europe in the 1960's, leaving him alone. He tells Herzog how much he misses them and hopes that his mother in Spain is able to watch the film. It's a poignant moment.Once the problems have been ironed out and the airship is flying, Herzog is able to capture some quite extraordinary visuals of the jungle canopy. I watch a lot of Nature Documentaries but this is some of the most incredible footage I've seen. There is one shot in which a camouflaged frog appears to be playing hide and seek with the camera, slowly moving around a branch as the camera follows. It is simply stunning. The most beautiful shot of the film though is thanks to Yhap who takes Herzog through the jungle where he is able to see an entire waterfall through a single drop of rain. It is a majestic sight. A later shot which shows symmetry of the waterfall and thousands of swooping Swallows is also masterful.The relief on Dorrington's face after his successful flight is palpable. It looks as though a huge weight has been lifted and it is only then, an hour into the film that he reveals to the camera what happened on that fateful day, ten years ago. The story is heartbreaking and makes you realise why Dorrington has come back to complete this test.This is among Herzog's best documentaries. He has managed to find another engaging story with a single man facing danger and battling against the odds (a constant Herzogian theme). The visuals are stunning and the narrative is informative and exciting. In Dorrington and Yhap, Herzog has discovered two more remarkable characters and the world is better for having them documented.www.attheback.blogspot.com

RainDogJr Werner Herzog, as usual (considering the three Werner Herzog documentaries I have seen so far), narrates this one and he begins when the dream of the man of flying was only that, a dream. Now in Dr. Graham Dorrington we have a modern aeronautical engineer with a dream. Dorrington had in himself the dream of flying since long time ago, since he was a kid that stuff was in his mind and since then he knew the consequences. In the new "mission" of Dorrington Herzog was there…The film has like three sides; we watch the professional side with Dorrington and his team of course (and the people from Guyana) planning and checking every single detail of the airship and with Herzog himself. We watch a personal side of Dorrington with that chapter in his past and with the tragic thing that happened during a similar "mission" like 10 years before so right now like 14 years ago. And we watch the side of the film that has in the place and people the protagonists. Herzog and his team were there to capture the work of Dorrington but is obvious that once there they filmed some more fascinating material. Dorrington had one clear objective, to make work his new invention in that unexplored place, in Guyana. There were complications and we knew what was in Dorrington's mind every time he felt something was going to be wrong. And everything is about film-making; Herzog was filming a man who wanted to fly and film. And everything is about those brave filmmakers, a team filming impressive footage knowing that if the worst happens their way can be until there. Eventually the White Diamond flew and that image is nothing but just another of the many beautiful images that the film present to us. Apart of that we watch the interesting and touching story but not only the one of Dorrington. It is an encounter of different worlds, exactly as Dorrington said they were the ones with the professional knowledge and with the technology however nothing is comparable to the knowledge of a man like Marc Anthony Yhap who's home is that place. The White Diamond is a beautiful film and it is just another interesting and worth watching work from Herzog.

mushroomalice Is it just me or is there a constant feeling that there's a lot of set up dialogues and impromptu pauses to force out speeches? Like the instances of Marc Anthony saying "yea..white diamond..yea..i love it..yea.." (this goes on for 2 minutes and happens A lot to different people throughout the film) and Dorrington being strapped onto the pipe apparatus in his workshop and pretending to fly for far too long looking kind of, as the film puts it, stupid stupidity? Don't get me wrong though, this has got some of the best footage and music score i've seen and heard, but is it really trying far too hard to be a no holds barred documentary? I would gladly give it an 8, but the weird forced and set up dialogues really brought it down.