Save your money for something good and enjoyable

Good movie, but best of all time? Hardly . . .

if their story seems completely bonkers, almost like a feverish work of fiction, you ain't heard nothing yet.

One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

I think it wouldn't be unfair to describe The White Diamond as a fairly minor Werner Herzog documentary. The great German has made several truly excellent ones of course and while this one is still good by general standards, it definitely doesn't add up to as much as his better work in this field. Like many of his films, documentary or fiction, this one focuses on an obsessive eccentric, in this case Dr. Graham Dorrington who is a designer of experimental aircraft. We follow him as he attempts to get his new invention, a small mobile air balloon called the White Diamond, to navigate over the jungle canopy in Guyana and allow for the examination of this largely unexplored natural world.The narrative is underpinned by not only a dream but also a past nightmare. In 1992 Dorrington was involved in an expedition where the film-maker Dieter Plage was killed while flying one of his airships over a jungle in Sumatra. This event clearly still haunts Dorrington even ten years later and adds a layer of dread to the undertaking we watch unfold in Guyana. The scene where he recounts the events that led to Plage's death are haunting and hard to forget and do add some depth to proceedings. But the film is probably best when it focuses on the beauties and dangers of the Amazon jungle. Herzog has always had an ability at capturing nature in unusual, yet spectacular ways and here is no different with amazing footage of a massive waterfall and close-up shots of the almost alien-like creatures of the rainforest. Despite being quite a typical Herzogian character Dorrington is less eccentric than usual, the other key character is a local Rastafarian called Marc Anthony who assists with the expedition; while his diversions on topics such as healing plants, his lost family in Spain and his pet rooster all add colour, they also feel slightly like padding to a certain extent. The documentary as a whole is pretty unstructured and doesn't really have a proper ending in many ways so it does feel like a Herzog film which went with an interesting idea which ultimately didn't play itself out as was probably hoped. I do have to say that while I am being a bit critical it is only because Herzog is such a good film-maker and this one had the potential for more. Nevertheless, there is still much to appreciate here and while the sum of parts are greater than the whole; there are still many moments of genuine interest to be found. Despite a few drawbacks this still remains a film definitely worth seeing if you are a fan of Herzog's unique style.

This is a lyrical film more than anything. Herzog refuses to classify his documentaries as "documentaries" which I respect. Truthfully this isn't a straight forward documentary even if it does follow one man's quest to get his air ship to float above Guyana.Herzog is an observer more than anything and we see that in how his documentary is assembled, he does not force anything and he will leave his camera on people for longer than you would expect so that they will feel compelled to say something else.A random man will come up and start talking and Herzog will focus on him for several minutes. This film goes alongside Herzog's other films that represent men with near impossible dreams.

Grizzily Man was not even considered for the Oscar nominations in documentary for a reason. This was simply because it was not included on the ballot paper. This was Werener Herzog's choice. He has no time for playing the Hollywood game. Though it would've been wonderful to see him win it, you've got to admire the man's integrity. He remains one of the greatest and most original film makers at work today. The White Diamond is no exception. It starts out almost like a typical BBC documentary, but it quickly becomes apparent that this man is no ordinary professor, but yet another human being with obsessive drive of dreams and vision. Where does Herzog find these people! May he continue to illuminated us.

Werner Herzog's The White Diamond, a documentary about the exploits of Dr. Graham Dorrington, an engineer at St. Mary's College in London, England, might have been called "Little Graham Needs To Fly". Dorrington is a solitary dreamer who is eager to explore wilderness areas and tropical rain forests in a helium-filled airship. In particular, he wants to explore the rain forest canopy of Guyana and Werner Herzog brings his camera and his best narrative voice along for the ride. The film is both the story of a man and his dreams and an ode to an unspoiled wilderness that has so far withstood man's insatiable need for "progress".Like other Herzog films I have seen recently, there are moments of involving action pitting man against nature, along with stretches of dullness and sudden outbursts of enormous beauty. Just to watch the flocks of swifts fly in formation above Kaieteur Falls, a waterfall four times the height of Niagara, backed by the cello of Ernst Reijseger and the chorus of the Tenore E Cuncordu De Orosei, is an experience in itself worth the price of admission.The film begins with a brief overview of the history of flight including scenes of the horrific crash of the Hindenburg Zeppelin in Lakehurst, New Jersey in 1937, a tragedy that ended the dream of travel in lighter than air vehicles. The film then shifts to Guyana where Dorrington is in the process of assembling a two-person airship to help him make his journey and confront his past demons. Dieter is a thoughtful man though given to childlike outbursts of enthusiasm. He dreams of "drifting with the motors off in the peace and quiet, quietly floating above these forests in the mist". Though Herzog seems to want to portray all his protagonists as slightly mad, Dorrington appears too grounded to fulfill the director's wishes. His purpose contains elements of both inner and outer exploration. He wants to move on from a tragic accident that occurred eleven years ago when his friend and companion Dieter Plage was killed while flying one of his airships.Dorrington is reluctant at first to discuss Dieter and his tragic end, but later recounts in agonizing detail the precise details of the accident for which he blames himself. In a scene later revealed to have been staged, Herzog and Graham argue about whether cameras should be allowed on the test flight of his airship christened The White Diamond by a local miner, but Herzog prevails because he fears that it may be the only flight that will take place. We sense throughout the early part of the film that any flight is dangerous and extreme precautions are taken to ensure safety. There are other peripheral characters that we have come to expect from Herzog.A young cook does a Michael Jackson dance to hip hop music while standing on the edge of a cliff and we meet Mark Anthony Yhap, a diamond miner whose eloquent philosophy contrasts sharply with the more inner-directed Dorrington and he waxes poetic when talking about his beloved rooster. Yhap is a Rastafarian, an African religion that believes that Haile Sellassie is the living God. Yhap wants to fly so that he can visit his family in Spain whom he hasn't seen in many years and his contact information appears in the credits. All this is peripheral to the main event, however, and as we soar over the rain forest, we forget Herzog's description of nature as "a brutal place full of murder and cruel indifference" and simply bathe in its majesty.