La Soufrière - Warten auf eine unausweichliche Katastrophe

In this VERY short film (clocks in at a tidy 30 minutes) Herzog (I love this man) and a couple of fellow sociopaths (all due respect) trek off to the island of Guadaloupe...not for some boring travelogue, but to try and find the one man (though it turns out to be three) on the island who has refused to evacuate in the face of an impending volcanic eruption that will surely kill him. Why doesn't he leave? Because we're all going to die, stupid. Why try to defy God? Hey, it's hard to argue that.

This is the Werner Herzog we know and love, the badass superhero tempting fate by visiting a volcano on the verge of eruption. A dense, thoroughly satisfying short work. Wonderful, brilliant narration, especially right at the end.

There are times I think Herzog is more camera than human.

Well, it is a Herzog documentary so you have to wonder whether he took liberties with the narration or the editing for extra dramatic effect, but by the end you don't really care because the way it is presented (along with standard Herzog imagery) is just so fascinating.

I don't have very much to say about this movie. It's pretty fascinating to see the deserted town; the narration is good; the music is very appropriate. What else? I don't know. I guess I thought the part near the end where they talk to the two or three people who stayed behind went on for a bit too long, but not overly so. It was definitely worth seeing, but it didn't change my life in any substantial way.

Absolutely beautiful, Herzog does everything right. great interviews, inpeccable camera work and the narration is awesome. I really do wonder what the heck Herzog was thinking filming on an island about to explode when every sane person had left long ago.

Another Herzog worth considering in the context of Bergfilm. The man vs. nature narrative is inverted, as the fearless holdouts welcome their hot doom only for nature to refuse them. You almost couldn't write it any better.

In many ways a film about an anti-climax, and Herzog's disappointment at the failure of a volcano to do as expected; erupt and destroy. Despite actively seeking out near-death experiences, nature does not cooperate on this occasion. The three individuals who choose to stay on the island fascinating Herzog as they seek the authentic life; being-toward-death. This is a 30min documentary that does more than most documentaries do in 90+mins.

Herzog is in awe of nature's power, poetic in this film's considerations of death and destruction. Footage of the deserted town, smoke billowing from the mountain, great music choices, and Herzog's existential narration give this a majestic tone. Wonderful sense of anticipation.

Herzog chilling with a volcano. Seriously he would do anything to get a good shot. Narration is great and even in the relatively short thirty minutes you get beautiful shots by the truckload.

Beautiful photography, the deserted town is breath taking. A really watchable and interesting documentary.

Perfect material for Herzog. The man is walking into a volcano on the verge of eruption and, of course, finding time along the way to work his fine craftsmanship & poetic ruminations. This is how I sell anyone on the stature of Herzog in film. Sidenote: it's worked on two and counting.

It's interesting to look around the deserted town but I found aspects of Werner's commentary to be a little doubtful. It seemed exaggerated with poetic license in attempt to add tension to an otherwise dull film. The repetitive interviews with his 'peasants' also demonstrate the slapdash nature of this production.

Herzog is crazy, goes into a live volcano and tells us an intriguing story. The meditation on life is not all that complex and the volcano aspect fizzles, but Herzog makes the film more than the sum of its parts.

Herzog travelled to La Soufrière prior to its imminent eruption because he wanted to speak to the people who refused to evacuate the nearby town. He wanted to establish what kind of relationship these people had with death. The interviews themselves don't disappoint, but I found the intonations of Herzog's dubbing actually neutralising the spirit of them somewhat. The languid footage of the freshly evacuated town is really haunting, and I loved the tangent on the neighbouring island's eruption.

Now this is Herzog reaching full Herzog. One particularly great sequence involves Herzog interogating a couple of people who have stayed behind with the smoking volcano rather than evacuating, and seeing their innermost beliefs and motivations. Really good.

A fairly captivating documentary, mainly due to the risky actions of the film crew and their possible demise. I don't care for Herzog's compositional or editing choices (another cutting room floor that's too sparsely covered), but the tense atmosphere he captured filming on the island is undeniable.

A bit on the short side but Herzog really manages to cram in alot of stunning footage in there.

Perfect.

Werner Herzog plays chicken with a massive volcano. Beautiful photography and score. Since Herzog grew up in a Germany devastated by World War 2, he knows a thing or two about poverty and oblivion

The most interesting thing about this is knowing the danger Herzog and his crew put themselves into. The shots of the deserted town and the landscape were also good. But when it got to the villagers who chose to stay behind (which is really supposed to be the highlight of the film), I wasn't too interested. The questions and responses were very repetitive and simplistic, and nothing they said really moved me. Worth watching, but not one of his best works.

It's about a few men staying behind on an island about to be destroyed by a volcano. I kind of expected Herzog to do more with this. It's not really his fault though. The subject is fascinating, but the men don't have that much to say. They're not very interesting or verbose. As a result, we're shown lots of volcano footage, and back-story, and beautiful landscape. The documentary's not bad, but it's easy to see where it went wrong.

Authentic, chilling footage.

Herzog shows off his suicidal dedication to his craft yet again. Beautiful, haunting imagery with great music and wonderful narration. Short and to the point.

I still think that most of this is made up, but it doesn't matter - an archetypal story.

Great shots, especially of those of the deserted town. Really haunting atmosphere.

a really good documentary on a lonely little island, lonely because of an imminent volcanic eruption. the conversation with that man by the tree was most fascinating. and the danger herzog and crew were risking.