By José Alberto Hermosillo
Dangerously real and transcendental. “Fire of Love” ignites the lover’s passion for Earth Studies 101 enormously.
“Fire of Love” is a complete recompilation of materials related to volcano studies collected deep from the archives of Katia & Maurice Krafft. The French couple discovered their magnetism for each other and volcanoes. Attracted by the powerful energy emanating from the Earth’s interior, they defied nature to fulfill their hunger for knowledge. This Academy Award-nominated documentary can help save lives in communities around volcanoes worldwide.
The daredevils of volcanoes are here to enlighten humanity through their amusing discoveries and heart-pounding missions, leaving an everlasting legacy.
This eye-opening documentary summarizes hundreds of hours of invaluable footage, original materials, incredible photos, specific samples collected from locations, and millions of questions.
Before 1966, all we knew about volcanoes was generic. Geology classified volcanoes by region, age, and size—until the Kraffts came with their exhaustive research, studying every volcano individually.
Since
they met in a Paris coffee shop, the French couple could not live apart and embarked on a series of overseas expeditions to study each volcano individually. When
they were children, their parents took them separately to visit the volcanoes in
Italy – they started with the Stromboli.
In 1970, they married. Their honeymoon was in Santorini, the mythical city of Atlantis. They devoted their lives to studying volcanoes and decided not to have children.
The newlyweds were the first and probably the only volcanologist couple in the
world, and they revolutionized every previous theory about volcanoes and tectonic plates.
Once they start their journey, the film’s visuals and environmental sounds blend together, complemented by “Je Me Sens Vivre,” a romantic French song by Dalida.
Dalida -- Je Me Sens Vivre
They brought down every theory and myth about volcanoes, even the truths and fragments of history already set in books. As they went deeper, more questions arose. They traveled to different countries, continents, and Islands, starting with Mt. Edna and Stromboli in Italy to begin their investigation. They knew that every mystery had to be solved. They lived every new adventure to the fullest.
TV appearances were recorded during their studies, and it was an excellent opportunity to
show the world that studying volcanoes must be done individually, not as a
generic classification. Every volcano is a different animal. And they were more
excited to show their findings when the TV became color.
They had their strengths—Katia worked on still pictures, printing books, chemistry, soil composition, gases, and physics. Maurice filmed everything on location, including eruptions, and kept the records and archives in order.
Both complemented each
other exceptionally well. The closer they got to the volcanoes, the more they saw, and the more they became volcano runners. Even local people helped them with supplies
and guidance to reach the craters.
Contemplating the devastating landscape surrounding a volcano, Maurice and
Katia stated, “We are not religious; we are scientists, but we have our short
life to return to the ground.” They romanticized their job, driven by their passion for volcanoes and each other. Katia observed 170 volcanoes, Maurice 150, 20 fewer than hers.
Maurice prefers an intense and short life to a monotonous, long one. In his existentialist
philosophy, he feels his life is a kamikaze mission in the beauty of volcanic things and the strenuous sounds of volcanic explosions.
They developed a new classification theory for volcanoes: Red and Grey.
They named Red Volcanoes after the red magma moving beneath the plates, and Grey Volcanoes after the grey smoke and ash. Red volcanoes produce the most fertile
soil for plant and vegetable growth. But these were the more explosive, the monster
volcanoes, the killer volcanoes, such as Mount St. Helens in the US near
Vancouver, Canada.
“Volcanology is a science of observation. The closer they get, the
more they see.” With the new gear, they could get closer to the edge. In their
fascination with danger, the unknown is not to be feared, but
something is not torn. When Krakatoa erupted in Indonesia in 1971, scientists studied the chemistry and water composition, including the acidity that killed all organisms surrounding the volcano. In 1973, they visited
one of the world’s most active volcanoes. Mt. Nyiragongo in Zaire, now the
Democratic Republic of Congo, will continue the studies of lava and soil
composition.
The signs before a blast are the alteration of minerals, gases, soil temperature, and
tremors that ignite an eruption, but there is no certainty to know when or at what
time. “Going to the site of a volcanic eruption is like playing Russian roulette -
you never know when you will be killed,” said Maurice.
In 1985, the volcano Nevado del Ruíz erupted in Colombia, killing around 25,000 people while they slept. The government ignored evacuation warnings, and Katia arrived to testify about the damage. Since then, the Kraffts’ film has been used as educational material to warn communities near volcanoes to evacuate and save lives because timing is everything.
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| Independent writer, producer & director Miranda July narrates “Fire of Love.” FestivalinLA ©2011 |
Independent filmmaker Miranda July’s narration in “Kajillionaire,” “Me You and Everyone We Know,” and “The Future” is vivid and evocative.
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| Sara Dosa, director of “Fire of Love.” Photo by José Alberto Hermosillo. FestivalinLA ©2023 |
The documentary, co-written and directed by Sara Dosa (producer of the Academy-nominated “The Edge of Democracy”), powerfully portrays the well-selected material. Dosa did a marvelous job assembling this gigantic puzzle from Krafft’s materials, studies, and discoveries.
Legendary German filmmaker Werner Herzog worked on a few projects focused on the Kraffts - “The Fire Within” and “Into the Inferno.” Still, nothing compares to the force of “Fire of Love” through its imagery and consistent structure.
The selected material can be compared to the fabric of other Academy Award-winning music documentaries, such as “Summer of Soul” and “Amy,” about the life of Amy Winehouse, where home videos are a key element in helping the world connect with the legendary singer.
What keeps us watching the documentary is the fantastic material and the lives of those two passionate French investigators who pursue their dreams and dare, like no one else, to go further. Katia, Maurice, and the Volcanos’ love story.
Fire of Love Trailer | National Geographic
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