Into the Inferno (film)

Into the Inferno
Into the Inferno
	Film poster
Directed by	Werner Herzog
Written by	Werner Herzog
Based on	Eruptions that Shook the World; by Clive Oppenheimer
Produced by	André Singer; Lucki Stipetić
Starring	Clive Oppenheimer
Narrated by	Werner Herzog
Cinematography	Peter Zeitlinger
Edited by	Joe Bini
Production; companies	Spring Films; Werner Herzog Film
Distributed by	Netflix
Release dates	3 September 2016 (Telluride Film Festival); 28 October 2016 (Worldwide);
Running time	104 minutes
Countries	United Kingdom; Germany
Language	English

Into the Inferno is a 2016 documentary film directed by Werner Herzog. In it, Herzog and volcanologist Clive Oppenheimer explore active volcanoes around the world, especially how they have impacted the cultures of the people who live near them. The film had its world premiere at the 43rd Telluride Film Festival on 3 September 2016 before it began streaming on Netflix on 28 October.

Synopsis[edit]

In his exploration of active volcanoes in Vanuatu, Indonesia (Mount Sinabung and Mount Merapi), Ethiopia (Erta Ale), Iceland, and North Korea (Paektu Mountain), Herzog is led by volcanologist Clive Oppenheimer, who hopes to minimize destructive impact of volcanoes through his work. The primary goal of Herzog's quest is to get a better idea of our origins and nature as a species. He finds volcanoes mysterious, violent, and rapturously beautiful, and claims that "there is no single one that is not connected to a belief system."^[1]

Release[edit]

The film had its world premiere at the 43rd Telluride Film Festival on 3 September 2016.^[2] It screened at the Toronto International Film Festival on 13 September,^[3] and opened the Muestra de Cine de Lanzarote on November 22.^[4] Netflix made the film available for streaming worldwide on 28 October.^[5]^[6]

Critical reception[edit]

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 92% of 49 critics' reviews of the film are positive, with an average rating of 7.50/10; the site's "critics consensus" reads: "Into the Inferno finds director Werner Herzog observing some of the most beautiful -- and terrifying -- wonders of the natural world with his signature blend of curiosity and insight."^[7] On Metacritic, it has a weighted average score of 76 out of 100 based on reviews from 17 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.^[8]

Accolades[edit]


Year	Award	Category	Result	Ref(s).
2016	Critics' Choice Documentary Awards	Best Director (TV/Streaming)	Nominated	^[9]
2016	Critics' Choice Documentary Awards	Best Documentary Feature (TV/Streaming)	Nominated	^[9]
2017	FOCAL International Awards	Best Use of Wildlife and Natural History Footage	Nominated	^[10]
2017	News & Documentary Emmy Awards	Outstanding Science and Technology Documentary	Nominated	^[11]

Related films by Werner Herzog[edit]

La Soufrière (1977) – a short documentary film about an anticipated eruption of the La Grande Soufrière volcano in Guadeloupe
Encounters at the End of the World (2007) – a documentary film about Antarctica and the people who choose to spend time there, including Oppenheimer, who is featured in the film when Herzog goes to Mount Erebus
Salt and Fire (2016) – a fictional thriller film about the imminent eruption of a supervolcano in Bolivia
The Fire Within: A Requiem for Katia and Maurice Krafft (2022) – a documentary film about the French volcanologists, who are discussed in a segment of Into the Inferno. Katia and Maurice Krafft died on 3 June 1991 in a pyroclastic flow produced by the eruption of Mount Unzen in Japan.

References[edit]

^ Van Syckle, Katie. "What We Learned from Werner Herzog's New Movie About Volcanos". Men's Journal. Retrieved 11 December 2016.
^ Farber, Stephen (4 September 2016). "'Into the Inferno': Telluride Review". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 11 December 2016.
^ "Into the Inferno". tiff.net. Toronto International Film Festival. Archived from the original on 11 December 2016. Retrieved 11 December 2016.
^ Rivera, Alfonso (3 December 2018). "The Image You Missed voted Best Film on Lanzarote". Cineuropa. Retrieved 2 December 2023.
^ Malone, Michael (9 August 2016). "Netflix Unveils Amanda Knox Documentary". Broadcasting & Cable. Retrieved 21 March 2017.
^ "Netflix to Unveil Four Original Documentaries at the 2016 Toronto International Film Festival". Netflix Media Center. Netflix. 9 August 2016. Retrieved 21 March 2017.
^ "Into the Inferno (2016)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 12 January 2021.
^ "Into the Inferno". Metacritic. Retrieved 12 January 2021.
^ "2016: Inaugural Critics Choice Documentary Awards – Winners". Critics' Choice Awards. 3 October 2017. Retrieved 12 January 2021.
^ "THE FOCAL INTERNATIONAL AWARDS 2017 - Best Use of Footage About the Natural World". FOCAL International. Archived from the original on 21 March 2017. Retrieved 12 January 2021.
^ "NOMINEES FOR THE 38th ANNUAL NEWS & DOCUMENTARY EMMY® AWARDS ANNOUNCED" (PDF). 19 September 2017. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 August 2020.

External links[edit]

Into the Inferno at IMDb
Into the Inferno on Netflix

[1] Van Syckle, Katie. "What We Learned from Werner Herzog's New Movie About Volcanos". Men's Journal. Retrieved 11 December 2016.

[2] Farber, Stephen (4 September 2016). "'Into the Inferno': Telluride Review". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 11 December 2016.

[3] "Into the Inferno". tiff.net. Toronto International Film Festival. Archived from the original on 11 December 2016. Retrieved 11 December 2016.

[4] Rivera, Alfonso (3 December 2018). "The Image You Missed voted Best Film on Lanzarote". Cineuropa. Retrieved 2 December 2023.

[5] Malone, Michael (9 August 2016). "Netflix Unveils Amanda Knox Documentary". Broadcasting & Cable. Retrieved 21 March 2017.

[6] "Netflix to Unveil Four Original Documentaries at the 2016 Toronto International Film Festival". Netflix Media Center. Netflix. 9 August 2016. Retrieved 21 March 2017.

[7] "Into the Inferno (2016)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 12 January 2021.

[8] "Into the Inferno". Metacritic. Retrieved 12 January 2021.

[9] "2016: Inaugural Critics Choice Documentary Awards – Winners". Critics' Choice Awards. 3 October 2017. Retrieved 12 January 2021.

[10] "THE FOCAL INTERNATIONAL AWARDS 2017 - Best Use of Footage About the Natural World". FOCAL International. Archived from the original on 21 March 2017. Retrieved 12 January 2021.

[11] "NOMINEES FOR THE 38th ANNUAL NEWS & DOCUMENTARY EMMY® AWARDS ANNOUNCED" (PDF). 19 September 2017. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 August 2020.

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v t e Werner Herzog
Filmography Bibliography
Feature films	Signs of Life (1968) Even Dwarfs Started Small (1970) Fata Morgana (1971) Aguirre, the Wrath of God (1972) The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser (1974) Heart of Glass (1976) Stroszek (1977) Nosferatu the Vampyre (1979) Woyzeck (1979) Fitzcarraldo (1982) Where the Green Ants Dream (1984) Cobra Verde (1987) Scream of Stone (1991) Lessons of Darkness (1992) Invincible (2001) The Wild Blue Yonder (2005) Rescue Dawn (2006) Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans (2009) My Son, My Son, What Have Ye Done (2009) Queen of the Desert (2015) Salt and Fire (2016) Family Romance, LLC (2019)
Documentaries	The Flying Doctors of East Africa (1969) Handicapped Future (1971) Land of Silence and Darkness (1971) The Great Ecstasy of Woodcarver Steiner (1974) How Much Wood Would a Woodchuck Chuck (1976) La Soufrière (1977) Huie's Sermon (1981) God's Angry Man (1981) Ballad of the Little Soldier (1984) The Dark Glow of the Mountains (1985) Herdsmen of the Sun (1989) Echoes from a Sombre Empire (1990) Jag Mandir (1991) Bells from the Deep (1993) The Transformation of the World into Music (1994) Gesualdo: Death for Five Voices (1995) Little Dieter Needs to Fly (1997) My Best Fiend (1999) Wings of Hope (2000) Pilgrimage (2001) Ten Thousand Years Older (2002) Wheel of Time (2003) The White Diamond (2004) Grizzly Man (2005) Encounters at the End of the World (2007) Happy People: A Year in the Taiga (2010) Cave of Forgotten Dreams (2010) Into the Abyss (2011) On Death Row (2012) Lo and Behold, Reveries of the Connected World (2016) Into the Inferno (2016) Meeting Gorbachev (2018) Nomad: In the Footsteps of Bruce Chatwin (2019) Fireball: Visitors from Darker Worlds (2020) The Fire Within: A Requiem for Katia and Maurice Krafft (2022)
Shorts	Herakles (1962) Game in the Sand (1964) The Unprecedented Defence of the Fortress Deutschkreuz (1967) Last Words (1968) Precautions Against Fanatics (1969) No One Will Play with Me (1976) Portrait Werner Herzog (1986) Les Gaulois (1988) La bohème (2009)
Other	Incident at Loch Ness (2004)
Books	Of Walking in Ice (1978) The Twilight World (2021) Every Man for Himself and God Against All: A Memoir (2022)
Related	Lena Herzog (wife) Lucki Stipetić (brother) Werner Herzog Eats His Shoe (1980) Burden of Dreams (1982) Location Africa (1987) Plastic Bag (2009)
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