According to the real events of the film “against the ice of the line”, although the rating on Douban is not high. But I think there are at least two points worthy of attention.
One is the knowledge about the geographical discovery of Greenland. In the early 1900s (1900), much of Greenland was within the Arctic Circle and the waters around Greenland were frozen for long periods of time, making it impossible for ships to navigate, so it has long been a geographically unknown land. For this reason, some in the United States believe that Greenland is actually made up of two islands, with Piriti in the north being a separate island from Greenland, and a Piriti Channel separating the two islands from Greenland. And, the U.S. side believes that the title to Piridi Island should belong to the United States. In response to this dispute, Denmark, the claimant state of Greenland, formed an expedition to cross Greenland to the Arctic ice cap and go to Dapiridhi for a field study. If it is proved that Greenland is a whole island and there is no such thing as Piriti Island, then the claim of the whole Greenland should belong to the Kingdom of Denmark. However, this expedition failed to return. In response, the Kingdom of Denmark formed a search party, headed by Captain Einar Mixon, who found the bodies of the expedition and a notebook in the ice field. The notebook contained the location of the pile of stones the expedition had built in Piri Land, which contained a map of Greenland drawn by the expedition and records of related information. Captain Einar Mixon decided to go to the rock pile in Piridi to retrieve the maps and information that the expedition had placed in the pile. The film “Journey Against the Ice” reflects the process of Captain Einar Mixon and the self-proclaimed mechanic Ivor Iverson crossing the Greenland ice cap to Piridi to retrieve the information in the rock pile.
The second is about the theme of isolation and loneliness. This theme can only be considered a secondary theme attached to the film, but I personally think it is worth thinking about. Captain Einar Mixon and Ivor Iverson 2 people driving a dog sled, from a bay in the northeast of Greenland (the film does not give the specific location of the starting point, only that it is the northeast of Greenland), spending nearly 3 months (the 84th day), finally arrived in Piri, find the expedition pile of stones, get the expedition to draw the map and information. But on the way here, as Ivor Iverson was a novice, he drove over the sled and lost some food and a sled dog, so they faced the dilemma of possibly not having enough food on the return journey, and they had to kill the weakest sled dog for securing food for 2 people and other sled dogs. More unfortunately, however, they encountered polar bears on the return journey, and several more sled dogs were bitten to death, and the captain almost died under the paw of a polar bear. For this reason, they had to abandon the sled and return to their starting point on foot. At 300 km from the starting point, they left the maps and information in a pile of stones they had built up for fear of not being able to return. After 8 months (day 242), they finally returned to their starting point. But at that time, the ship was hit by an iceberg and the crew waiting for them had to leave on another ship that came to rescue them and return to Denmark. Fortunately, before they left, a wooden hut was built on the shore, leaving a year’s worth of food for them. So the 2 men began a long wait in the cabin. During the wait, the 2 decided to return to the rock pile 300 km away to retrieve the information and evidence they had placed in the pile. After they got the information and evidence and successfully returned to the cabin, they missed the boat that came to rescue them because they did not leave a note when they left. By this time, it had been more than one year and three months (day 471) since they set out, and they could only continue to wait in an isolated world. However, in Denmark, there was a delay in organizing a rescue ship, as the hope of rescuing them was considered slim and costly. In the long isolation, food is also getting less and less, after the 793rd day, the 2 people have mental problems and hallucinations, Ivor Iverson saw his deceased grandfather, while the captain Miksen had a love affair with a strange woman in the photo, and suspected Ivor Iverson to steal his lover, shooting almost killed Ivor Iverson. In the meantime, they also encountered another attack by a polar bear. The captain also developed an egg-sized abscess on his neck. But they finally persevered, and on the 865th day – almost 2 years and 4 months – finally waited for the rescue team.
In this long wait, the captain’s psychological quality but far less than the first time to the Arctic Ivor Iverson. First, when deciding to return to the rock pile 300 kilometers away to get the information, Iverson reminded the captain whether to leave a note, but the captain said: “No”. a mistake that the captain should not have made. Secondly, after the hallucination, Iverson was able to adjust himself in time and did not hallucinate again, while the captain was immersed in the hallucination, which almost caused a tragedy.
