Werner Herzog is presenting a documentary about French volcanologist couple Katia and Maurice Krafft. I've never heard of this couple and suddenly they get two documentaries in short succession. Herzog has the name and the pedigree, but the other film has the Oscar nomination. It is fascinating to see them back to back and compare the two.
Herzog is using almost exclusively footage shot by the couple. I do notice the classic Mount St. Helens explosion footage. I'm sure that there are other non-Krafft footage to fill out the story. It is very compelling that Herzog tells us that they are about to die on that Japanese mountain early in the film. It's like presenting the dead body early in a murder mystery movie. Both documentaries use the couple's awe-inspiring footage, but this one does not have their voices. It is all Herzog narration as in most of his films. He's the one pontificating. Throughout the movie, I kept wanting to hear the couple voices or at least their words. This is more like a tribute spoken in a funeral and that may be the intention. I just have a better sense of the couple from the other movie. That is the main difference.
Herzog is using almost exclusively footage shot by the couple. I do notice the classic Mount St. Helens explosion footage. I'm sure that there are other non-Krafft footage to fill out the story. It is very compelling that Herzog tells us that they are about to die on that Japanese mountain early in the film. It's like presenting the dead body early in a murder mystery movie. Both documentaries use the couple's awe-inspiring footage, but this one does not have their voices. It is all Herzog narration as in most of his films. He's the one pontificating. Throughout the movie, I kept wanting to hear the couple voices or at least their words. This is more like a tribute spoken in a funeral and that may be the intention. I just have a better sense of the couple from the other movie. That is the main difference.