Into the Inferno (Werner Herzog)

[Ezee E]

IMDB (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4846318/?ref_=nv_sr_1)

https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/564x/df/77/1a/df771ae9851de5b181f43fdf9da0f1 2f.jpg

[Ezee E]

A few of Werner's documentaries have been misses for me, even with interesting pieces. I kind of wish the short film length was more embraced, because there's a lot of fluff here that is simply not needed.

Some amazing images of the researchers working while lava is spewed up into the air, occupying the entire screen except for the researcher. That's actually quite mesmerizing to see.

[Stay Puft]

I don't know if I'm going to be able to catch this at TIFF, but I'm certainly going to try.

I do have tickets for Salt and Fire, though, so I will at least see something from Herzog. Having three movies premiere in a single year might be a record for the guy, but I'd have to fact check that.

[Stay Puft]

A few of Werner's documentaries have been misses for me, even with interesting pieces. I kind of wish the short film length was more embraced, because there's a lot of fluff here that is simply not needed.

I see what you mean. There are a few sequences that certainly feel like lengthy tangents, something coming along and piquing Herzog's interest and carrying him away in some other direction, only to circle back later. It's almost frustrating, for example, that this is the film that takes Herzog to North Korea, and while he unsurprisingly spends a lot of time probing the larger context of North Korean society, you also kinda wish he could have gone and made a documentary about that instead of inserting it into the middle of his volcano movie. That's pretty typical of the way the movie operates, though, as each volcano they visit is more of a structural guidepost on a journey through various societies and cultures that surround those volcanoes (or as Herzog says, he's interested in the magic as well as the science), however relevant those may be (e.g. there are island communities whose lives are closely tied to active volcanoes, okay great, but the North Korean segment is really just "Herzog visits North Korea" with the volcano as an excuse to get there).

That being said, I still enjoyed it. Winston mentioned Herzog now being completely aware of his persona in the thread for Lo and Behold, and that's even more true here. Herzog and Oppenheimer literally discuss Herzog's cinema persona in one scene, and Herzog also walks the audience back through some of his earlier films (La Soufriere and Encounters, specifically). So, like with Lo and Behold, I found plenty to love. It's a lot of fun to just go for the ride with Herzog, wherever that ride goes.

I'm also glad I got to see it in a theatre (had no idea it was a Netflix film), because yeah, the HD footage they capture of those volcanoes is incredible, and being immersed like that in massive, rhythmic images of lava is hypnotic. That's what the silver screen was built for, Herzog casting lava spells over the audience. Also, the old footage of that volcanologist couple that perished in the field... WOW. My heart was racing. That freaked me out just seeing it on a movie screen, nevermind actually being there in real life. Nope times infinity to that.

And so, like Lo and Behold, it's a yay for me, but no it's not one of Herzog's best docs by any stretch.

[Skitch]

Werner, you damn genius.

Yes, this is about volcanos. Its also about
a documentarian sneaking into North Korea under the guise of "nature doc" to film how completely insane that country is.

Sure, volcanos too. Its a double headed doc, but it is a two pronged film, imo.

Look at the beginning of the film, where Werner sits with the Aussie guy on the edge of the volcano. Aussie says there were afraid the legendary filmmaker Herzog would want to go down into danger, and Werner says no, that would be foolish to be so dangerous. Then heads to North Korea with a film title "Into the Inferno". I don't think this a stretch, and Werner knows sly comedy like a mother fucker.

Maybe I'm reading too much into it, but this was an exciting project for me.