Into the Inferno: Volcanologist Clive Oppenheimer on working with Werner Herzog “It is a fire that wants to burst forth and it could not care less about what we are doing […]

“It is a fire that wants to burst forth and it could not care less about what we are doing up here. This boiling mass is just monumentally indifferent to scurrying roaches, retarded reptiles and vapid humans alike.”

The final words of Werner Herzog’s closing monologue in his new documentary about volcanoes could only have been uttered by the veteran German director.

Providing the academic yin to Herzog’s dramatic yang in the Netflix film Into the Inferno is Clive Oppenheimer, a volcanologist at the University of Cambridge.

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Together, the pair traverse five continents studying the destructive and constructive nature of active volcanoes, interviewing those who live in their shadows.

Clive Oppenheimer’s recommendations Books Eruptions that Shook the World by Clive Oppenheimer (2011)

Under the Volcano by Malcolm Lowry (1947)

Volcanoes by Peter Francis and Clive Oppenheimer (2003) Films Encounters at the End of the World directed by Werner Herzog (2007)

La Soufriere directed by Werner Herzog (1977)

Stromboli (1950)

Oppenheimer talked to i about the unique challenges of the making of the film, his unlikely friendship with Herzog, and the time they spent in North Korea.

How did you feel when you first stared ‘into the inferno’ of a volcano?

“As a PhD student I worked on Stromboli – within a month of starting this PhD I was thrown in at the deep end on an active volcano which goes bang every 10 to 20 minutes.

“I was very close to the edge of the crater taking temperature measurements with an infrared thermometer, and this thing was going bang every now and then. It was an absolutely daft thing to do from a health and safety perspective.

“After every explosion I’d think I could have a good look into the vent with all the slurping magma in it, taking measurements and the longer you’re taking these measurements the more you’re thinking ‘oh it’s going to happen any minute now’.

“There’s a kind of terror as well as a fascination to see when this bubble bursts and throws rocks around.”

In your line of work, have you ever had any close shaves?

“Not really, I’ve seen lava bombs fly through the sky and I’ve taken evasive action, but I’d say the most serious risk I face in fieldwork is just driving on the roads.

“I was captivated by his tales of Klaus Kinski and film-making around the dining table in our remote field camp”

“Some of the places I’ve worked there’s been a threat not just from the volcano, but from human agency where there are armed groups and bandits, or uncleared minefields.”

What was your first encounter with Werner Herzog like?

“When I met Werner I was also working on an art project and it reignited creative juices I hadn’t had since I was a teenager, so it was a wonderful encounter. I was captivated by his tales of Klaus Kinski and film-making around the dining table in our remote field camp, 3,500 metres up the side of Mt. Erebus in Antarctica.

“I brought some of his DVDs and we watched them and had a director’s commentary in real time. I knew he had made La Soufrière and had filmed parts of Encounters at the End of the World on Mount Erebus, but I felt he wasn’t done with volcanoes.

“It was about five years ago when I had finished writing my book Eruptions that Shook the World that I sent him a copy and said it’s time to get serious, and that triggered things off.

“I thank my lucky stars for that serendipitous encounter.”

Were you a fan of his work before you met him?

“I was. I wouldn’t describe myself as a film buff, but I remember as a teenager seeing Fitzcarraldo.

“The sight of all these fish gorging themselves on Werner’s toes as he stoically stared at them was quite bizarre”

“When I knew Werner would be joining us in Antarctica for the filming of Encounters at the End of the World, I watched some more of his films and I really got him. He has made some fabulous films.”

What was your most memorable moment of working with him on Into the Inferno?

“Oh crikey, there are so many. In Indonesia on Mt. Merapi we came down from the mountain pretty hungry and we found this mushroom-themed restaurant. Everything was mushrooms, even the drinks had mushroom in them. They also had this canal flowing through the restaurant and they had those flesh-eating fish that offer some therapeutic value. We thrust our feet in and the sight of all these fish gorging themselves on Werner’s toes as he stoically stared at them was quite bizarre.”

How interested are you in humankind’s relationship with volcanoes?

“If I came back in another life I would study anthropology and archaeology. On a visit to Ethiopia I began realising that human origins come from this rift valley, this tectonic environment. It really got me thinking about what role volcanoes have played in our formation.

“The fact that we had to deal with volcanic catastrophes must have played a part in developing our cognitive skills, as well as our resilience and adaptability.”

During the filming you visited North Korea. How was that experience?

“We were very well looked after. Within 24 hours of arriving in Pyongyang we had been invited to the parade in the Grand Revolutionary Square.

“It was fascinating to see that Paektu Mountain was a central plank in the ideology of the country. You see it everywhere round Pyongyang, there are huge murals with the founding fathers Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il standing in front.

“Kim Il-sung had a number of his secret camps around the volcano when he fought against the Japanese occupation.”

Finally, for the sake of anyone who’s done science projects on volcanoes at school, could you please tell us your favourite volcano fact?

“The main thing I do is measure volcanic gases and I looked at the composition not that long ago.

“I compared it with the composition of the human body and we’ve got a little bit more nitrogen and volcanoes have got a little bit more sulphur in them, but we’re basically made of volcanic gas.”

Into the Inferno is available to watch on Netflix today (28 October)