Ancient fields of lava and acid lakes are rarely seen as the most romantic of settings.
But for the protagonists of Sara Dosa’s documentary Fire of Lovethe grumbling of Soil‘s most active volcanoes tied them together in the most unusual, yet epic, love story to hit theaters this year.
Katia and Maurice Krafft were French volcanologists whose determination to study volcanoes took them to places where many scientists refused to go. lined science fictionThey looked protective suits and carried camera gear from the 1970s. They made it their mission to study the power of Earth’s volcanic activity and better understand the mysteries surrounding human relationships with these forces.
A horrific tragedy would eventually cost them both their lives when they were caught in a pyroclastic flow on Mount Unzen in Japan in 1991. They left hundreds of hours of footage of them climbing active volcanoes around the world.
The new documentary about the self-proclaimed “volcano runners” is a story of romance, between two people, and between the couple and the beautiful and terrible power of nature.
The volcanologists who have become filmmakers love each other, but what emerges from their records is a passion for all things volcanic. This is a real love triangle – several volcanoes are even mentioned in the credits.
Katia and Maurice’s legacy was captured on 16mm film, which was carefully restored and edited by Dosa to create this evocative documentary. Narrator Miranda July leads viewers through the story, but the footage is made up entirely of footage shot by the Kraffts and their friends, which at times has the air of magical realism. They clearly had a taste for the dramatic—it’s surreal to see a small human figure standing calmly next to a molten inferno—but early on in the film, Dosa notices inconsistencies in their narrative, suggesting that the side of the Krafts.
We follow the couple to breathtaking crimson landscapes in hypnotic scenes where magma binds the story together. What’s interesting is that you don’t necessarily fall in love with the bravery of the geologist (Maurice) and geochemist (Katia), though they certainly had a lot of that, nor their fairly reasonable fear. Instead, it is the childlike playfulness they share and embody; their delight in the exciting power of their subject.
Vivid images of them dancing on the rim of a volcano, combined with amusing comments from Maurice who says they also often “erupt” in their relationship, add a comedic touch. Even their outfits have a Wes Anderson feel to them at times. And yet, the couple’s curiosity about the world encourages us to be as awed by nature as they are.
“We live according to the rhythm of the earth, and the earth determines where we go,” says Maurice at one point. What remains is a tragic, cinematic, poetic smorgasbord that humbly reminds us of humanity’s delicate relationship with the world.
A burning question lingers and even Dosa doesn’t know the answer. Knowing the danger of their work, did Katia and Maurice actually hope that the hours of footage they captured and their story would one day be immortalized in a movie? The answer to this was lost to Mount Unzen 31 years ago.
In cinemas