Trasfoco: The Volcano Section

La Soufrière

In August 1976, the La Soufrière volcano (French for ‘sulphur mine’) started to become very active. Seventy six thousand people were evacuated from the environs of the volcano, but a poor hermit refused to leave, preferring to stay and wait for the imminent eruption. After reading about it in the newspaper, the director Werner Herzog travelled to the island with a small film crew. There they found a fascinating situation: empty streets with no cars but still functioning traffic lights, pets scavenging for food, and one man patiently awaiting for the great eruption.