Sara Dosa’s “Fire of Love”

Fire of Love (2022)

This captivating and unique documentary on the life long volcanologists Katia and Maurice Krafft is full of unique sights and ideas diminished slightly by extraneous narration

Beginning quietly, I thought at first that the film would be entirely silent as we quietly follow volcanologists Katia and Maurice make their way by jeep through a snowy, volcanic landscape only for it to be broken by the raspy tones of Miranda July either telling us what we’re seeing or overexplaining. The film is almost entirely composed of archive footage shot by Katia and Maurice or their colleagues. The film works best when we hear their words either directly or read from journal entries. Thankfully, the narration is intermittent but it is quite jarring and it sounds like July is in desperate need of a lozenge.

However, the rest of the film is stunning. The primal, incandescent images of lava or the quietly epic, angry clouds of boiling ash could hold one’s attention for hours, but we see Katia and Maurice happily wandering to meet this brutal natural power as if wandering into a pasture to greet a horse even as molten clumps of rock crash around them. From the first scene, we know that their Quixotic volcanic quest will lead to their death.

Throughout the film, we learn about the connection they both have to volcanos and to each other as well as their perspectives on life which seen through geologic terms is merely a blip in time. It’s also interesting to see the differences between the two of them and the life cadence they created for themselves working as equals.

In addition to the beautiful footage they’ve shot, we also get some lovely animation from animators Rui Ting Ji and Lucy Munger along with music from Nicolas Godin. It’s a unique film of stunning visuals diminished slightly by the extraneous narration.