Antarctica

Antarctica (南極物語, 1983) is a Japanese drama you can watch online on iFILM, directed by Koreyoshi Kurahara and starring Ken Takakura. The film reconstructs a real incident from Japan's 1958 Antarctic expedition, shot partly on location in Antarctica itself.

Three scientists set out from Showa Station for an inland survey with fifteen sled dogs. The expedition ran over schedule; worsening ice made evacuation urgent. A plane came for the people. The dogs had to stay — there would be a relief team. The relief team never arrived. A full year passed before anyone returned to Showa.

Kurahara splits the film between the researchers and the dogs, and the animal half is where it earns its weight. The location photography is the kind that a studio set cannot produce. Stream Antarctica (1983) online on iFILM.