Beyond the Pole : DVD Review


Title: Beyond the Pole
Starring: Rhys Thomas, Stephen Mangan, Rosie Cavaliero, Helen Baxendale
Director: David L Williams
Released: July 5th 2010
Running time: 87 minutes
Certificate: 15

Beyond the Pole is a British mockumentary adapted from a Radio 4 series about two guys who attempt the first unassisted expedition to the Arctic because they like the idea of getting into the Guinness Book of Records. Of course it’s fake but Rhys Thomas and Stephen Mangan have produced a likeable and amusing, whilst also fairly convincing, film. Greenland is the Artic-like set that stands in for the real thing and it too is convincing. It might be fake in so far as these two guys are not actually at the Artic, but they are still hiking across Greenland. It’s still cold and it’s still dangerous, so there is always a sense of genuine fear for their safety as well as humour in the sense that it’s not exactly the real thing.

Brian, played by Rhys Thomas, is the gung-ho type that whilst being happy with his girlfriend Sandra, played by Rosie Cavaliero, has the urge to go on one final ‘adventure’ before settling down and getting out his pipe and slippers. His buddy Mark, played by Stephen Mangan, is a bit insecure and fancies the idea of running away on an adventure to be free of his homelife and responsibilities, but he also has a bit of history to live up to – his great-grandfather was a genuine explorer. The two crazy guys are filmed by documentary filmmaker Beck, played by Helen Baxendale, who films their efforts from early training days all the way through to the real ‘expedition’.

The two guys devise the first carbon-neutral, vegetarian, organic expedition ever to attempt the North Pole. It’s very British, very much about the underdogs striving for something. There’s lots of self-deprecation and humour.

Directed by David L Williams, Beyond the Pole is a fun, tongue-in-cheek movie about climate change, friendships strained to breaking point and the enduring strength of the human spirit, even if it is all a bit of a con.

Beyond the Pole is out now on DVD and blu-ray and it has been doing well at film festivals and well received by viewers.

Author : Kevin Stanley