Fire of Love

For this visually stunning documentary, Director Sara Dosa and editors Erin Casper and Jocelyne Chaput sifted through over a hundred hours of footage shot by French volcanologists Katia and Maurice Krafft. The Kraffts were the only known volcanologist married couple, and the film is as much about their relationship as it is about their unusual obsession and choice of career. Through their many TV appearances, the documentaries they made, the books they published, and the photographs they took, we come to know this fascinating pair who, we learn at the beginning, died together doing what they loved. We acquire far less knowledge about the science of volcanology, which is disappointing for a National Geographic movie. The main scientific tidbit we get is the difference between "red” volcanos (caused by tectonic shifts that pull the earth apart) and "grey” volcanos (caused by the pressure of these plates coming together). This difference is magnificently illustrated by the Krafft's footage. It also plays nicely into the arc of their lives, starting with their study of the more "friendly" volcanos and progressing to the study of the "killers."

The close-up study and documentation of active eruptions the Kraffts risked their lives to perform clearly advanced the understanding of how these firey mountains work, which has saved countless lives. But I wish this film explained a little more about what their work actually entailed. Maurice Krafft was a geologist, and I guess we all understand what a geologist is, and we see a fair amount of him on TV showing rocks he's collected. But Katia Krafft is identified as a chemist, and even after watching this feature film about her, I have no idea what a volcanologist chemist does aside from refusing to go canoeing on lakes of sulfuric acid. At one point, Maurice tells an interviewer that he's not a filmmaker but a scientist who must film things to further his work. But Dosa clearly disagrees. From her movie, we get the impression that these two are much more photographers and adventure seekers who like to look at eruptions close-up than they are scientists. It's understandable, considering the amazing images they captured over their lives, that a visual medium would focus on the visual aspects of its subject, but come on—I'd like a little more science in a documentary about scientists. I'd also like to know more about the particulars of their work, like how they were funded. They refer to themselves as freelancers, but were all their expeditions funded through their lecturing, books, and the licensing of their images?

The film only contains about 40 minutes of actual information stretched out to feature length, and Miranda July's monotonous narration makes the movie feel much longer and slower than it should. Is July trying to sound fatalistic? Her tone is at odds with the joy these two feel in their relationship and their profession. Still, Fire of Love more than earns its running time because the footage is just so spectacular. And, since most of the images this couple shot were on 16mm film and 35mm stills, the archival material they left behind blows up incredibly well for big-screen viewing. Most people will watch this at home but, like Brett Morgen's IMAX David Bowie film of the same year, Moonage Daydream, this is a documentary that should be seen on the biggest screen possible. 

(4K-cinema)