This is a 30-minute documentary short film from almost 40 years ago by notable German filmmaker Werner Herzog. It takes place on the island of Guadeloupe and tells about the situation of an upcoming volcano eruption. Herzog traveled to the island when he heard about an unrelenting inhabitant who was ready to accept his fate and did not choose to leave his home. Herzog brought a two camera men with him, one of them later an Academy Award nominee for "Far from Heaven". When he made this, Herzog was in his 30s, now he is in his 70s. And it is still so much fun for me to listen to him. I just love his voice and this is also a main reason why he may be such an accomplished documentary filmmaker. he usually narrates his own movies. The language here says German, but the version I watched was in English. It was not a problem at all. Herzog sounds very much like a foreigner here, even makes mistakes occasionally ("baddest), but it just all adds to the charm of this movie. I would even say it helps the film as it takes away from possibly sounding slightly pretentious. Herzog just has a unique talent in exactly finding the fine line between making a film as informative as possible, but yet easy to understand. The historic context with the previous eruption and the scientific approach to eruptions could have been too difficult or too much into detail with a less talented film maker, but Herzog hits the nail on the head: the prisoner tale, the piece of bread, the interviews... These little stories add so much here.
Early on, it says that this is mostly about the island inhabitant who stayed, but not really as we find out later. First of all, there are more than one and then, they also do maybe only include 10% of the film and appear way after the half of the film. We see the deserted island. We see abandoned houses and animals etc. The German Film Awards honored this fine piece of filmmaking and I personally recommend it to watch it together with Herzog's "Aguirre" from 5 years earlier maybe. Recommended.
Early on, it says that this is mostly about the island inhabitant who stayed, but not really as we find out later. First of all, there are more than one and then, they also do maybe only include 10% of the film and appear way after the half of the film. We see the deserted island. We see abandoned houses and animals etc. The German Film Awards honored this fine piece of filmmaking and I personally recommend it to watch it together with Herzog's "Aguirre" from 5 years earlier maybe. Recommended.