Fire of Love: Review - More Than Just What is Beneath the Surface

Fire of Love (2022)

Perfectly blending spellbinding images of volcanoes overlayed with philosophical lamentations about life comes the documentary Fire of Love which chronicles the relationships of volcanologists Katia and Maurice Krafft. This is a powerful film which brilliantly allows the viewer not only a firsthand glimpse into these two extraordinary people's lives but utilizes their story to try and comment on the nature of humanity and the world we inhabit. The movie travels the gambit of emotions from romance to tragedy with its nihilistic questions about the futility of man in the face of such awesome forces in nature which not only eclipse the ability but also the imagination of humanity. This is a one of a kind film from an extraordinary filmmaker, that being Sara Dosa, which deserves to be seen as it has so much to offer the viewer who is sure to come away with a better appreciation of nature and the beings that rely on it.

The movie begins with a chronicling of how Katia and Maurice met and how they became romantically involved which is largely attributed to their shared passion for volcanoes combined with an intense desire to test the boundaries of what can be discerned about them while working under harsh and violent conditions.

The movie does not indict their behaviour but it does contend with the fact that both of them, particularly Maurice, strayed at times beyond what was considered safe all the while proclaiming that their actions were necessary for discovery. Even after Maurice took a rubber dingy across a lake of sulphuric acid which angered his wife Katia he still felt a pull to go further continuously proclaiming that he was going to find a way to traverse an active lava flow onboard a special vehicle that he would help design. Knowing that the pair would meet a tragic fate as a result of this behaviour, as is stated in the opening minutes of the film, painted the rest of their risk taking behaviour with a tragic sense of foreboding.

Despite this, the majestic quality of the volcanoes as shown the stunning cinematography sampled on the left make the viewer understand to a degree how to people would feel compelled to navigate the unthinkable circumstances they did in order to get as close and capture the amazing images they did of this extraordinary phenomena. Furthering the importance of the mission the couple was on is the story narrated in the film whereby they took their footage to the authorities in Columbia to warn them about the potential of a Volcano to cause a catastrophic mud slide. In spite of their best efforts they were ignored as the costs of acquiescing to their demands were seen as unreasonable. The result of not heeding to their demands was the Armero tragedy which resulted in a catastrophic loss of life whose death toll is estimated to be around 22 000 people.

"How great is the ambition and vanity of man?", this quote struck me in the film and perfectly encapsulated how the pair felt in the aftermath of the tragedy in Columbia which motivated them even more to continue their mission of documenting volcanoes and spreading awareness about the dangers they present while also advancing research to better be able to predict their eruption.

Taking all of these events together one can see that while the pair clearly had a liking for literally tiptoeing around the edge of the volcano and risking their lives such as when they cooked on cooling lava flows these personal satisfactions were more an added benefit to the main objective they were pursuing. While I do not think anyone's life can be summarized in total within a single film this movie does an amazing job of giving context to how two people working in the remotest of locations studying the most extraordinary of Earth's features came to find love in each other and further awareness about the risks of volcanoes. Specifically, the documentary detailed how prior to the 1991 eruption of Mount Pinatubo, the largest such event to ever hit the Philippines, a huge evacuation effort was undertaken thanks to the work of Matia and Maurice Krafft.

My only minor criticism of the film would be the odd choice for a song during the credits where after an hour and a half of melancholic narration and entrancing imagery of the power of nature the filmmaker's decided to conclude this drama with a rock song which felt out of place. I would also caution anyone before watching the film that it does include several images of deceased animals and as someone who is staunchly against using such pictures in film this did upset me to a degree but I also understood their inclusion was a warning about the power volcanos rather than simply a device made to shock the viewer. The movie in general treats nature as a character in that of itself which could also help explain the inclusion of such images to greater context to who nature is as the film even goes so far as to include the names of the various volcanos the couple would explore in the film during the opening credits as if they were each individual human cast members.

This movie really struck a nerve in me that I did not expect. The footage in that of itself is compelling but to combine that with the story of these two fascinating figures who sought to endeavour into the belly of the beast so to say to document it, learn it's secrets, and share them with the world was a captivating experience. I cannot recommend this movie enough.

Here is the trailer for Fire of Love: