Wo die grünen Ameisen träumen / Where the Green Ants Dream (1984) – 3/5

This is the Ant

„Wo die grünen Ameisen träumen“ or „Where the Green Ants Dream“ is a co-production between West Germany and Australia from 1984 (Great year!), so this film will have its 40th anniversary next year and as I am a pretty big fan of filmmaker Werner Herzog and this was shown on the big screen again on a one-time occasion, I had to take it and give it a go. Herzog is writer and director here is Bob Ellis, the man who is no longer with us and probably was part of this project because of his Australian background. You also see him in front of the camera on one occasion and apparently this was the only time he and Herzog collaborated. Ellis has also acted on other occasions and of course worked as a screen writer too. He even directed here and there. The outcome is really as solid as it gets, so it surprised me a bit that he and Herzog did not reunite. Anyway, Herzog himself is also seen on the screen here in a very brief cameo. I must admit I did not even recognize him, so it was extremely short. He made this film during the mid-80s when his collaboration with Kinski was slowly coming to an end. Only one more movie followed, but Herzog was still travelling the world and shooting films like this one where the exotic component and the lifestyle of the natives played a major role. This film here that runs for pretty much exactly 100 minutes was also a somewhat solid success with awards bodies. It was nominated at the prestigious Cannes Film Festival and took home two awards at the German Film Awards, namely the cinematography trophy for Herzog’s longtime cinematographer Schmidt-Reitwein (who died just a month ago, rest in peace) as well as the big prize of the night, the category for Best Picture and that is not a given as Herzog has a fairly tumultuous history with how his movies were perceived in Germany. No surprise he has lived in America for decades and is seen as a bit of an icon there while. He is just not politically correct enough for soft German mainstream warriors, no matter if we are talking about the film industry or Germany in general. I adore the man. Not gonna lie. But yeah, the category at the German Film Awards where he came short back then was for the film’s writing. There Herzog was also the only nominee and no mention of Ellis, which is a bit telling.

As for the cast, you will find almost exclusively Australian actors in here. Makes total sense given the story. Don’t worry if none of the faces feel familiar to you. Same was true for me when I watched this one two nights ago. Not even lead actor Bruce Spence is really famous or anything. He also disappears a bit from the picture in the last third of the film you can say, only to fully return then towards the end in the final scene especially. I thought he gave a good performance. It is not extremely stellar or bold, but a convincing character study of a man whose views are changing because of the experiences he makes and he pretty much turns into the man in this little house there towards the end and said man realizes it as well and that is why he is no longer as opposed to Spence’s Hackett as he is when Hackett knocks at his door earlier. Then there’s the Aborigines of course. It looks as if those are portrayed by actual Aborigines as those have virtually no other acting credits to their names. Could be that the two with the most screen time are actually related here. There I was a bit confused who was the translator and who was the one understanding the English language, but oh well. It is fairly telling that the eldest of them is eventually killed in this airplane crash there and there is some irony that he was also the one who said that he wants this military plane and in a way he buried his own grave this way. He did not know what was about to happen when the other man flew off and there was a bit of preparation already earlier when we see the same man enter the plane, but at this point things did not go wrong yet. You can also probably make a connection between the plane in this film here and the opera house in another film, one Herzog made with Kinski, in terms of stuff that simply does not belong there, but well if I remember correctly the opera house was not as devastating in the end.

In the second half, this film even becomes a bit of a courtroom drama, even if the outcome there is never really in doubt. I surely liked the approach Herzog took here when he had the Aborigines come up with this very special artefact and they say it must not be shown to anybody who is not absolutely required to see it to understand their motives. As a consequence, it was also not shown to the people watching this film, but this made it maybe even more special because the White folks who saw it saw nothing special in it at all and could not understand the significance. It must have been a bit of a desecration for the Aborigines anyway to show it to the judge and the ones in charge of the protocol and this is actually maybe the saddest moment of the film because it showed us how desperate they were and how hopeless their case was. Those explosions we see early on there and also towards the end when the case is closed and the eldest had died already made sure that all hope was gone. So it is a film with nice depth that tells an interesting story, exactly what most German films have been missing for years, if not decades, when elaborating on the subject of foreign cultures. But nowadays all is really only about immigration anyway and as uninspired as it gets while being praised to the skies as if these awful films were truly creative achievements and contemporary relevant. Nobody will talk about them 50 years from now. That much is safe. Pretty ironic that Herzog showed them already so long ago how it is done and still they cannot follow in his footsteps.

Oh well, back to this one here: The scene in the supermarket with the Aborigines sitting there where once a tree existed was bittersweet somehow. In a way, it was funny because of the absurdity to it and on the other hand it was also sad because of what was lost for them that they can never get back. I think the supermarket guy in this scene may have been co-writer Ellis, who was by the way born the very same year as Herzog, just little under half a year earlier. Another thing I liked about the film was the music, especially on two occasions. Or I should maybe say three occasions because we hear the locals singing on two occasions already and their chants were indeed pretty haunting. And then you also hear a female opera singer almost, very high-pitched voice, during one scene that also had memorable images. But the visual side is always spectacular with Herzog anyway, no matter if we are talking about his documentaries or live action films. He is never totally getting away from the documentary genre either anyway and here this is also true with the Aborigine actors of course. But the rest is fictitious apparently including all the references to the green ants, which was even used for the film’s title. I totally bought it though, so nice job to Herzog for coming up with this. He is just a master of metaphors you can say.

In any case, this film has many strengths, not just story and acting, but also the aforementioned images, no matter if we are talking nature sights and phenomena or the strong contrast of men-made technology we see (and hear) there. You will also find references to how alcohol, nicotine and other drugs are brought from the White man to the natives and in a way ruin their lives, even if it is not specifically elaborated on in this movie. The technology is what kills them eventually here. At least in the example of the eldest of them and the plane. Look at the scene in which they start a fire inside the plane, but turns out to be really harmless despite the panicking. They maybe should have panicked instead when the man asked them to even bring the plane over there. So yeah, this little fire scene or also the improvised runway where moments when the film made people in the audience smile a little. There were more, which means that no matter which perspective you are taking when seeing this film, it will always be a success. Also from the aforementioned character development perspective. Just look at the words the protagonist says during dinner with the Aborigines. The ones about the elevator. Or how he talks to his boss towards the end then and we can be sure his job is gone eventually. Because he wants it so. That is all then. Overall, this film surely gets a thumbs-up and while it was much closer to a great movie than to a forgettable or weak movie, I would still say at this point that it is a solid or good movie and deserves 3 stars out of 5. I recommend seeing it. Not one of Herzog’s best I guess, but only because he has so many great achievements in his body of work. This one here would be among most other filmmaker’s finest. Go see it. You don’t need to wait for it to come to the big screen again. May all the people who worked on this film and are no longer with us rest in peace now, not only the Aborigines, but everybody. Glad Herzog’s still there, hopefully for at least another decade.