La Soufrière: Waiting for an Inevitable Catastrophe
1977 · 30m · West Germany
Directed by Werner Herzog
Genres: documentary
Tones: absurdist, contemplative, dark
Werner Herzog and a small crew travel to the Caribbean island of Guadeloupe after 75,000 residents are evacuated ahead of a predicted eruption of the La Soufrière volcano, only to find one man who refuses to leave and a catastrophe that never arrives.
Picked by Margot
The scouts
Herzog drags a crew to film an erupting volcano and the volcano refuses to erupt — pure Werner. The anticlimax is the climax, and he knows exactly what to do with it.
Herzog walking into an unrealized eruption and finding a man who refuses to leave is one of his purest distillations of the ecstatic-truth doctrine. YouTube hosts it in parts.
Herzog walking into an evacuated volcano zone to film a disaster that never arrives - the anticlimax IS the film's argument, which only Herzog would commit to. YouTube has it in parts only and not in great condition.
Reviews
La Soufrière is much more than a social study; it is a compelling documentary that explores our innermost concerns with life and death.
An essay on a deserted civilisation, like a surreal fourth chapter to Fata Morgana, or a sci-fi documentary on a city of starving dogs and blinking traffic lights.
Festivals
- Visions du Réel 2019