76/100

Dragging the ship over the mountain occupies a much smaller percentage of the film's running time than I'd remembered—an hour and a half elapses before Fitz even announces/explains the plan. Nor does Herzog make this remarkable feat of engineering as visually spectacular as it might have been in the hands of a stronger formalist. Doesn't really matter, though, as there's plenty of awe to be mined from ordinary, everyday laboriousness. It's easy to forget, but utterly crucial, that nothing…

59/100

Toxic masculinity, South African style. With the irrelevant exception of some extras seen in the final minutes, not a single woman appears in the course of this power struggle, which unfolds during the rite of passage traditionally undergone by young Xhosa males—an extended group camping trip, more or less, that begins with circumcision (performed sans anesthetic or even much prelude, just a quick and dirty snip) and continues until the boyz ii men have fully healed. For most Western…