Product Details

• Actors: Bruce Spence, Wandjuk Marika, Roy Marika, Ray Barrett, Norman Kaye
• Directors: Werner Herzog
• Writers: Werner Herzog, Bob Ellis
• Producers: Werner Herzog, Lucki Stipetic, Samantha Krishna Naidu, Willi Segler
• Format: Color, NTSC
• Language: English
• Rated: R (Restricted)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Xenon Entertainment
• VHS Release Date: July 24, 1992
• Run Time: 100 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6302405688
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #247,675 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

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

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Open Your Eyes to the Dreams of the Green Ants, October 8, 2002

By 

"wytold" (North Carolina) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Where the Green Ants Dream [VHS] (VHS Tape)

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.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Herzog's Mad Max, May 2, 2006

By 

Jordan Hofer "Jordan P. Hofer" (Salem, Oregon United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Where the Green Ants Dream (DVD)

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.

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars tops, July 11, 2003

By 

Bob Swain "Seattle" (Seattle) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Where the Green Ants Dream [VHS] (VHS Tape)

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.