Product Description

Hailed as a Masterpiece of Modern Cinema.

In the wilds of Australia, aboriginal tribes observe their ancient legends and laws evolved over 40,000 years. Their culture is threatened by a giant corporation that wants to mine in one of their aborigines' holiest sites - the place 'where the green ants dream'. As long as those dreams remain uninterrupted, the aboriginal culture will survive but if the mining company executives succeed with their plan to destroy the holy ground, the aborigines believe that their civilization - and the earth will perish. Thus starts a revolt by the world of dreams against an impatient civilization that seems to want everything but understands nothing.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #41291 in DVD
• Brand: TANGO ENTERTAINMENT INC
• Released on: 2006-04-25
• Rating: R (Restricted)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Box set, Collector's Edition, Color, DVD, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: 1.00 pounds
• Running time: 105 minutes

Amazon.com
Director Werner Herzog is famous for the deranged physical feats he captures in his movies, but Where the Green Ants Dream tackles an even greater challenge: The gap between the Western mind and Australian aboriginal cosmology. In the Australian outback, a geologist for a mining company (Bruce Spence, The Road Warrior, Aquamarine) finds his work obstructed by aborigines who tell him that his explosive tests will disrupt the dreaming of the green ants and wreak havoc on humanity. The mining company tries to mollify the aborigines, but they implacably resist. The confrontation escalates to a lawsuit argued before the Australian supreme court (which is based on the first legal battle over aboriginal land rights). This may sound dry--and much of the film is bathed in gusts of red Australian dust--but throughout the film, the geologist struggles to communicate with the aborigines and grasp the fundamentally different perception of the world. His glimpse (and ours) of this other worldview turns Western civilization on its side and leads the geologist to question his whole life. Herzog (Aguirre: The Wrath of God, Grizzly Man) isn't subtle, but that doesn't diminish the often hypnotic power of his images, from footage of tornados to the faces of the aborigines, gentle as water yet as firm as stones. This is a worthy addition to Herzog's difficult, thrilling, maddening, and ultimately rewarding body of work. --Bret Fetzer

The New York Times
"...full of moments of inspired craziness and wisdom the movie works its spell through the curious, strikingly beautiful images"

Customer Reviews

Open Your Eyes to the Dreams of the Green Ants
There is amazing beauty in the stark outback of Australia where Herzog filmed this drama. It's the simple story of Aboriginals who are trying to save their reality from the onslaught of civilization.

Herzog turns the story into pure poetry which opens your mind to other versions of reality. All the characters he introduces are amazingly rich and complex. The are no absolute good or bad characters. Instead there is a world full of people who must act within the rules of their own particular realities.

I'm watched it multiple times and the film always shakes my belief in the "absolute truth" of my metaphysical system. Each time I realize that perhaps my version reality is not the only possibility. This is not a bad experience, rather it opens new worlds for me to explore.

I recommend this video for those who have an open mind. The video quality is so - so, but that only adds to the charm of the movie.

tops
This and a few films by Aki Kaurismaki, and Wenders' American Friend are the only ones that I need to see more than once. I've seen this movie about a dozen times and its understated tragedies are compelling without shrieking. Great video, if you can find a copy. There is a good essay about this film by a follower of Jean-Francois Lyotard in the book Judging Lyotard.

Herzog's Mad Max
I have never seen a Herzog film I haven't liked, just some more than others. This is an in-betweener, but excellent, as always. Similar in stark landscapes to "Fata Morgana", "Where the Green Ants Dream" offers barren vistas, mounds of dirt, holes in the ground, and apocalyptic hovels. The character of the anthropologist sums up the film best when he describes modern Western technology and what it has done to the biosphere as a man on a train who knows the tracks ahead are out and all he can do is run to the rear of the train. Definitely one of Herzog's more accessible stories, and perfect for viewing in an anthropology course. The ending reminds me of classic J.G. Ballard, in which the dynamic character chooses desolation over re-integration into the hellish culture from which he came. And, yeah, there's a bit of "Mad Max" in the apocalyptic theme as well.