Delpeut's preoccupation with the past as a territory of mystery and discovery takes its most literal form in The Forbidden Quest, which reframes archival footage of early polar exploration as fantastic fiction. A pseudo-solemn voiceover claims to have discovered the only survivor of a 1905 South Pole expedition: “He said he could show us . . . pictures.” These pictures bear witness to an adventure rich in references to Melville, Poe, Coleridge, and Verne. As the tale grows increasingly improbable, Delpeut's clever juxtaposition of images and speech tweaks the notion that pictures don't lie. But the film is at its best when the narration subsides, leaving us to contemplate the silent images: ephemeral moments of life on the ice, the weird beauty of the polar landscape. In Delpeut's testament to survival and wonder, perhaps the greatest wonder is that these fragile images have lived to tell their own tales.