When Worlds Collide
FOR NEARLY SIX DECADES, Werner Herzog has crafted iconoclastic works in both fiction and non-fiction. With his Bavarian drawl and sardonic air, his films often focus on obsessive characters, the bleak indifference of nature’s cruelty and the strange beauty of the odd creatures that inhabit our world. Herzog’s solo projects have included landmark titles such as Cave of Forgotten Dreams (2010), a wonderful journey into humanity’s artistic past, and Grizzly Man (2005), which chills more than any horror film by illustrating how self-delusion is often the most self-destructive of human attributes.
With 2016’s Into the Inferno, Herzog solidified his collaboration with Clive Oppenheimer, Professor of Volcanology in the Department of Geography of the University of Cambridge; the scientist had already appeared in his Oscar-nominated doc Encounters at the End of the World (2007). The globe-trotting Inferno explored how explosive fissures in the earth’s crust captivate our collective imaginations while shaping the planet. Four years later, the two again joined forces to consider a topic with deep impact: meteors. Fireball: Visitors from Darker Worlds examines our fascination with extraterrestrial visitors that arrive in the form of rocks raining from the sky. It explores how scientists and other obsessives use these connections to life outside our sphere to draw both empirical and philosophical conclusions.
Like , benefits from the different perspectives of the co-directors. While audiences are familiar with Herzog’s open-ended philosophy and eccentricity, Oppenheimer’s scientific background provides a layer of stability. The latter’s eagerness and keen eye for detail makes the complex ideas accessible. With locations that span the provides vicarious adventures to the physical scars that meteors have left on Earth and examines the effect of their arrival on our collective imaginations.
