REVIEW: Werner Herzog's "Ghost Elephants"

In some ways, the title of this film is misleading—it sounds like we are looking at another Nat Geo nature documentary, but this is something very different.

First of all, Elephant Ghosts seems more focused on the humans than the animals, which makes sense considering how elusive the elephants are.

Legendary filmmaker Werner Herzog narrates the tale, reminding himself not to "romanticize" the native bushmen but still finding them endlessly fascinating—the cradle of humanity, the ancestors of all humans, the site of the "awakening of the human soul."

These are people who still hand-start fires and can mimic animal sounds in the wild but are also speedy on a cell phone. Herzog explains some of the traditions we see, but leaves a lot unexplored as well (and no female Africans speak in the film).

But Herzog also infuses the film with his usual touch of magic, from the dreamy musings of protagonist Boyes to the transcendent African landscapes set to mystical intonations.

He keeps his camera just a moment longer than you'd expect on the mapped faces of elderly tribesmen and a local leopard-print-clad king.

He follows a dung beetle home and admits he's weirded out by (but can't seem to look away from) a poisonous spider with a vibrating backpack of baby spiders—also poisonous.

He somehow captures an elephant from under water, double rainbows gracing the plains, and trackers falling into trances where they may be possessed by elephant spirits.

Originally published 3/6 by Common Sense Media

Images courtesy of Disney+/Hulu.