When vulcanologists predicted that La Soufriere would erupt, Werner Herzog rushed to the small Caribbean island of Guadelope to capture the explosion The population had already been evacuated from the danger zone and the centre of Basse-Terre had become an eerie ghost town where only the steady rhythm of the traffic lights changing from red to green was evidence of the former inhabitants. La Soufriere had begun to belch poisonous sulphur fumes when Herzog made it to the base and discovered a group of stubborn farmers who, like himself, refused to leave in the face of almost certain death. The snakes that infested the jungle chose death by drowning, crawling into the sea. rather than waiting for a fiery fate. Ignoring warning signs from even the animal kingdom, one single-minded director was gambling that the volcano wouldn't blow.