Dreams of Elephants

Mad scientists and travelers are the favorite heroes of Werner Herzog's films. This time, the director focuses on the search for giant ghost elephants, whose distant relative was exhibited at the Museum of Natural History in Washington. Dr. Steve Boyes tracks down a herd hiding from humans in Angola, an uninhabited area the size of England that the natives call the end of the world. Herzog documents his hero's obsessions, dreams and imaginative work, asking the question, isn't it better for these elephants to remain out of human reach and function as the title spirits? Is the leader of the tribe, giving permission for the search, correct in saying that the fate of elephants is directly related to the fate of people?