Nature is powerful, mysterious and sometimes priceless to explore. In fire of love, filmmaker Sara Dosa gives viewers a glimpse into the exciting field of volcanology through the eyes of renowned volcanologists Katia and Maurice Krafft. The film is composed of never-before-seen footage that captures extremely rare volcanic activity up close, unlike anything we’ve seen in a documentary before.
Experiences like the ones researchers Katia and Maurice had in the field are rare because of their unique position as volcanologists studying eruptions up close and on film. Volcanic eruptions are so dangerous that very few researchers would have risen to the challenge of investigating them when the Kraffts were. During the duration of the documentary, fire of love show us the loving relationship Katie and Maurice shared before their dangerous research in the field caught up with them.
Before the film is released, let’s take a closer look at this incredible documentary.
Fire of love: the story
Katia and Maurice worked as volcanologists from the 1970s, a very early period in the study of volcanic phenomena. This made the Kraffts’ findings instrumental in the early detection of volcanic activity, which was their life’s work. The Kraffts began their investigation by documenting eruptions as they occurred. After the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens and the death of their friend and colleague David A. Johnston because predictions about the direction of the blast were wrong, the Kraffts made a risky career switch.
Exploring how to predict a volcano’s eruption was a natural next step for the Kraffts, and the images they captured as part of their research are absolutely stunning. Many photos shown in fire of love are unique — observations so dangerous to achieve that very few volcanologists have even attempted them. In the 1980s, the Kraffts were some of the few volcanologists to study the world’s most volatile volcanoes. This included volcanoes such as Mount St. Helens, Mount Pinatubo and, most notably, Mount Unzen. All these volcanoes and more are shown everywhere fire of love in beautiful and terrifying detail, as the pure power of nature is depicted which inevitably leads to the Krafft’s untimely death in 1991.
While the life and work of Katia and Maurice Krafft were previously discussed in Warner Herzogs In the Infernothe summary for fire of love gives a clear idea of how this film differs from its predecessors:
“Katia and Maurice Krafft loved two things: each other and volcanoes. For two decades, the daring French volcanologist couple roamed the planet, hunting eruptions and documenting their discoveries. They eventually lost their lives in a volcanic explosion in 1991, leaving a legacy behind that has forever enriched our knowledge of the natural world.Director Sara Dosa and the film team form a lyrical celebration of the adventurous spirit of the intrepid scientists, drawing on Kraffts’ spectacular archive.FIRE OF LOVE tells a story of original creation and destruction, following two bold explorers who venture into the unknown, all for the sake of love.”
Fire of Love: The Subjects & Crew
While fire of love is a nature documentary about volcanoes, mainly featuring the Krafft couple and their work, shown through archival footage they filmed or from news interviews from that time. Katia and Maurice Krafft were two of the most daring and influential volcanologists of the 20th century, whose research had life-changing consequences for people living in the blast zone of the world’s most dangerous volcanoes.
Filmmaker Sara Dosa takes us on a journey to a time and place that most viewers would otherwise never experience. fire of love appropriately by National Geographic. As the film is mostly made up of footage shot by the Kraffts themselves, Sara Dosa’s expertise comes through through voiceover, performed by Miranda July, and carefully weaving the footage to tell a story of love, passion and destruction. narrate.
Publication date
The film was bought by National Geographic in 2022 after fire of love premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. In the festival circuit, the film could only be viewed by those present. But thanks to a partnership with NEON, fire of love was released briefly in theaters on July 6, 2022. Now that the theater and festival tours are over, we expect fire of love will be released on Disney+ on November 11, 2022.
A love story doomed from the start
Sara Dosa’s decision to focus fire of love not only on the rare and beautiful volcano images captured by the Kraffts, but also on their loving relationship fire of love a unique and heartbreaking story. Compared to other nature documentaries, fire of love is incredibly unique. Not only does it tell the story of the Kraffts’ research, how it changed the field of volcanology forever and saved thousands of lives — but it also shares intimate images of the couple as they were in life. In addition to their research and the harsh environments they studied, Katia and Maurice Krafft were kind, intelligent and brilliant people whose work changed lives.
We can’t wait for fire of love to head to Disney+ on November 11th so we can see this wonderful movie!