Despite the young age of their country by historical standards, Americans honor the history and tradition of their people and, of course, are sincerely proud of the exploits of their heroes who committed this or that brave deed. One of them is aviator and polar explorer Richard Byrd, who became the first pilot in history to fly over the South Pole. The story of his feat was reflected in the silent documentary “With Bird to the South Pole.”
In 1929, Richard Bird and several other explorers embarked on a long, dangerous adventure across Antarctica. In addition to various discoveries made directly on the continent itself, the purpose of the trip was also the flight of Bird himself to the South Pole, which he eventually succeeded in and thanks to which his name was forever imprinted in the annals of history.
The film is a classic chronology of the events of that time. We can see how a group of participants gathered consistently, how difficult the road to Antarctica was, what storms their ship had to pass through. But the real tests were waiting for them. Of course, at first, the main difficulty for them was the ice, gradually shackling them as if in hens, as they became closer and closer to the southern continent. They were then forced to set up a camp they would later call Little America. And here, of course, severe frosts, extreme conditions, endless work of ingenuity and the search for improving the quality of life. As a result, the whole story ends with the collection of the aircraft, which they still managed to take on dog sleds deep into the mainland, and then the flight of Richard Byrd, who managed to fly over the South Pole itself. On the one hand, the whole story shown can seem fascinating, because it is interesting to see non-staged footage demonstrating the development of Antarctica in the era of a completely different technical development. On the other hand, except for the edifying idea of Richard Bird’s feat, we have no more important meaning or meaning here. Let’s be honest, flying over the South Pole doesn’t bring any great discovery. In addition, Bird was inside an equipped aircraft capable of withstanding extremely low temperatures and pressure. Therefore, in this case, the filmmakers made a simple documentary, without giving it a deep meaning.
I rarely watch documentaries because I have mixed emotions about them. After all, I'm more of a filmmaker. At the same time, I find it useful to learn something new about history, about natural phenomena, about ordinary people, to extract meaning from it, or to reflect on the point of view of the author himself. In the case of With Bird to the South Pole, we get just an informative stream for the general knowledge that there was such a person and that he did such a thing. More viewer from this film is unlikely to receive, but, as they say, the taste and color of the comrade is not