Storyline

Retreating from Kuwait after the first Gulf War, the Iraqi army sets fire to the country's oil fields. In this documentary, filmmaker Werner Herzog films the raging flames while narrating from the perspective of a confused alien visitor, musing on the strangeness of the landscape. As the fires burn, helicopter shots display the extent of the damage. On the ground, firefighters do their best to control things, while Kuwaiti women recount atrocities perpetrated by the Iraqis.

Plot Keywords

narrator, survivor, woman, fireman, somber, spectacular, kuwait, oil field, desert, lake, gulf war, destruction, ecology, atrocities, fire, fall, discovery, 1990s

Short Review

One of Herzog's earliest - and most evocative - cinematic essays on the uneasy relationships between man and Earth, unaffected reality and orchestrated drama.

Trailer

Streaming Service

1. Amazon Video : Rent from $1.99, Or $0.00 with a Prime membership