AllMovie

For his 1994 nonfiction work Peter Mettler: Picture of Light, documentarian Mettler sought to do something oft attempted but rarely - if ever - achieved: to capture the legendary aurora borealis, or Northern Lights, on film. To accomplish this goal, Mettler and a substantial crew embarked on a 3,000 mile train journey to Churchill, Manitoba -- battling such conditions en route as 40-below temperatures and blinding snowstorms. They also ran into difficulty when devising ways in which to film, not only because of weather that threatened to damage the camera, but thanks to the necessity of shooting at a mere 3 frames per second and expanding time on an optical printer to render the lights visible on celluloid. The body of the film contrasts stunning views of the Northern Lights with varied observations and reminiscences by indigenes about the natural phenomenon - everyone from a priest to a local octogenarian to an astronaut.