I have enjoyed two films about famously flawed men who were defined by their quests to be the first to reach the South Pole. Scott of the Antarctic is a sombre 1948 account of this British hero's gallant second place in the race - gallant but borne down by crucial tactical errors. Amundsen is a 2019 Norwegian production celebrating (though that is probably not quite the best word) the man who not only got there first but, unlike Scott, came back alive.
Scott of the Antarctic has been seen as a monument to the British stiff upper lip and it certainly pays homage to the near-crazed stoicism of Scott and his four compasnions on the final push to the Pole. However the film does allow itself a mild critical note, best symbolized by Scott's wry observation of the dogs' paw prints at the Pole - Amundsen had wisely relied on sled-dogs.
Amundsen is a more modern piece, concentrating less on the ice-bound heroism of the hero than it does on the egomania that inevitably drives such people. Its flashback story-telling can feel a little clunky but it is a film that does its work serviceably. Nor does it fight shy of highlighting the beastly reaction of the British establishment to Amundsen's achievement.
Where you have to stop and marvel is with the realisation that the core events that made these two principals so famous unfolded only eleven decades ago. In the intervening time there have been two global wars and man has developed the ability to destroy his own planet, an unwanted talent he shows little inclination to abandon. Both films get 65/100 and I recommend taking them as companion pieces - both are on iPlayer.
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