INTO THE INFERNO – Review

Review by Stephen Tronicek

Werner Herzog has made a few documentaries with or  about volcanoes and all of them seem connected through a philosophy that a volcano in itself lacks the importance of the cultural effect of one. Herzog himself calls this out early in INTO THE INFERNO, as he describes his work years ago in La Soufriére saying that he and his film crew, hoping to capture the volcano on film, almost randomly found one guy who hadn’t left the area and decided to make the movie about him. Herzog simply seems more interested in the way that the volcanoes lead us as humans to cower and be awed.

This is what makes INTO THE INFERNO so impactful. Herzog much like in hisLO AND BEHOLD (which came out mere weeks ago, Herzog’s on a roll) decides that in the lens of the volcano he must capture the span of human emotion. He must capture who we are in the midst of fiery magma and ash that made us and could destroy us, through his emotional filmmaking. This is more of an exploration of the way that cultures treat volcanoes, some viewing them as gods others viewing them as dangerous, in a way that all but embraces the excitement of what it is to be human. Herzog’s exploration into being human is what makes him the perfect documentary filmmaker. A documentary on the logistics of a volcano is interesting, but one made up of showing us the pool of bubbling magma that could all but explode at any moment, the most bewildering image that comes from volcano interspersed with his beautiful use of classical music will always be more astounding.

The opening scene of INTO THE INFERNO is simply that, but Herzog’s eye for framing comes out in the scene beautifully. The camera slowly, ever suspenseful approaches the peak of a volcano allowing a foreboding power to its large black wall penetrating the soul of the viewer and bringing them into the majesty and heat of the volcano. If that sounded pretentious, well it was a bit, but Herzog has always been able to take material that often sounds pretentious and through a light filming and editing style allow the emotions buried in that pretentiousness to burst forth and make his productions stunning in their depth.

In fact, Herzog’s only true slip in Into the Inferno are the moments when he’s not allowing the full emotions of a moment to come out and allows us to drift out of the majestic mind space he’s set up for the audience.

The two documentaries that Werner Herzog has released this year have both been the most intimidating movies of the year. Lofty and mind-blowing in many a way that makes one sit back and smile at the greatness of the world.

INTO THE INFERNO is currently playing on Netflix

4 out of 5 stars