[La Soufrière] is one of Werner Herzog's most exquisite efforts, a perfect distillation of his talents…. [The] film is a serene, strangely clear-headed documentary about the end of the world….

"Heart of Glass" [is] a feature by Mr. Herzog that is far less successful. Mr. Herzog hypnotized his entire cast to film a parable about a medieval town that has thrived by producing ruby-colored glass, until the only man who knows the formula dies….

In its own way, "Heart of Glass" is as much about the end of the world as is "La Soufrière," but ["Heart of Glass"] is much less accessible, and often obscure. The actors' trance is contagious, and the film has some genuinely mesmerizing moments, as when the town seer, whose words have made little sense, suddenly begins to predict an alarmingly familiar future in which "no man will like another man." Mr...