There is a film currently in distribution, a documentary of the people who once lived around Vesuvius, and those who live there now, in the area surrounding the ruins of Pompeii.

The civil authorities are driven to madness trying to figure out any kind of possible evacuation plan if the old girl were to erupt again, and under the looming certainty that sooner or later, she will. Many of the citizens are quite fatalistic about it though. Their turf is their turf, and they aren't going anywhere.

It's a fascinating film and I recommend it if you can find it. IIt is called Pompeii Documentary: In The Shadow of Vesuvius and was being played at our local Natural History museum.

There is also a movie called The Last Days of Pompeii which reconstructs the drama of Pompeii's destruction based on the written observations by Pliny, who was in the vicinity.

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