“A film that exists at the perfect intersection between science and folklore.”

To take a glimpse into the mind of Werner Herzog is a beautiful experience, and we’re extraordinarily fortunate to be alive at a time when he is continuing to tell stories – no filmmaker has been more open about his curiosity than he has over the years, and in both narrative and non-fiction works, his process is simply to select something that he finds fascinating and then form a film around it. He doesn’t work as frequently as he did before, but mercifully a recent partnership with National Geographic has allowed him the funding to make new documentaries. The latest of these is Ghost Elephants, in which he accompanies Dr. Steve Boyes and his team as they venture from Namibia to the highlands of Angola, in search of the elusive “ghost elephants”, the descendants of Henry, the largest-recorded land animal in history. Over the course of six weeks, we venture into the heartland of Africa, to a region colloquially known by locals as “the source of life”, in search of animals that many proclaim exist, but whose presence is elusive to the point of forming a kind of mythology. A fascinating, well-crafted work in which Herzog draws us into a subject that may not seem to have much potential at a cursory glance, but eventually proves to be fertile ground for another compelling voyage into the natural world, a place that the director has continued trying to comprehend, but whose wonderful mysteries he is no closer to ever understanding.

The basic premise of Ghost Elephants is established in the first few scenes – a scientist has dedicated his life to finding elusive elephants, but has struggled to find much evidence outside of some paltry photographs that suggest the possibility of their existence rather than confirming it. Herzog draws correlations between Dr. Boyes’ search for these animals and Moby Dick, the timeless tale of a group of men driven to madness and violence in pursuit of the white whale, which in itself has become a metaphor for something much deeper. Thankfully, Ghost Elephants is a more positive, engaging work that only uses this as the exterior dressing for something less about being led to the brink of existential collapse, and more about the desire to achieve the impossible. In many ways, this premise speaks to the wonders of research, where ambitious individuals set out to find answers to questions no one is even sure how to ask, driven by nothing but the desire to reveal secrets of a world we believe we understand, but are hopelessly ill-equipped to ever comprehend. This is also a film in which we come to learn that the answers are actually not all that significant, since by the end, we’ve only begun to scratch the surface (and Herzog deliberately avoids making it seem like there will be some incredibly moving conclusion in which everything falls into place), and while it can occasionally feel somewhat anti-climactic, it provides some fascinating commentary that extends beyond just the act of research.

There comes a point when we realise that Ghost Elephants is actually not exclusively about the titular creatures but rather is a deeply complex statement on the extinction of cultures. While no accurate number exists, it is estimated that only around 100,000 San people remain in Southern Africa – they’re amongst the oldest populations on the continent, but their numbers are dwindling, not even taking into account the impact modern technology has on their traditions, which are slowly fading away as time progresses. If nothing else, this film is a vitally important work solely for its commitment to exploring and celebrating their culture and simply allowing their language to be committed to screen, something that has not been documented as much as necessary for a culture that is slowly dying out. However, Herzog is not quite ready to sound the call for alarm, since his focus is not on eulogising these people, but rather giving them the space to celebrate their culture, telling their stories and allowing their beautiful traditions to be reflected on screen. The film doesn’t have the time or space to examine each detail of their way of life, but there is enough complexity in how Herzog captures their day-to-day routine for this to be as much about their existence as it is the elephants that have always played such a vital role in their lives, both tribes leading a peaceful coexistence. All of this provides valuable insights that are as meaningful to people from the region as to those who are entirely detached from these stories, lending Ghost Elephants a degree of credibility and nuance that would otherwise not be present with a different approach.

Ghost Elephants is a film that exists at the perfect intersection between science and folklore, the story of animals that define entire cultures, but may no longer exist. It does make a compelling case for their existence, with any allusion to Henry simply being an anomaly quickly dismissed by the research conducted over the years. There is nonetheless so much value in the curiosity towards the unknown and the realisation that we may not always find the answers we seek, which should not be a deterrent from pursuing these questions. The film is a relatively simple affair, and contains many of the same tropes we have come to expect from a Herzog documentary – layered narration by the director himself (who infuses the film with a blend of stark existential pondering and sardonic humour, often at the same time), sweeping shots of the natural world and provocative conversations with experts who are pushed to their very limits by the questions they are asked, rather than simply relaying their knowledge. It’s a stunning film that has a lot of depth, and cannot merely be considered a straightforward nature documentary, even if its form is intentionally kept quite sparse, the focus being less on manufactured grandeur and more on the deep sincerity of both Herzog and the subjects of the film. They’re united under the common goal to unearth certain secrets, their pursuit not necessarily leading them where they expect, but nonetheless having a lot of value as the foundation for this poetic journey into the natural world.