A One Mann’s Movies review of “Fire of Love” (2022).
I’m not much of a one for documentary films, but always regret not having a clue about this category at the Oscars. So I’m making a bit of an effort this year to try to catch them all. Thankfully, Picturehouse Cinemas screened one of the candidates – “Fire of Love” – and even made it a free showing for all! Thanks #picturehouses!
By the way, it is also available to view on the Disney+ channel.
Bob the Movie Man Rating(s):
Plot Summary:
“Fire of Love” charts the life stories of two ‘famous’ (in their own field) French volcanologists Katia and Maurice Krafft. The two “lovers” met through their work and then travelled the world to different eruptions, studying the warning signs ahead of eruptions to try to find better ways to protect local populations. They were tragically killed (not a spoiler, it’s said upfront in the film) in June 1991, hit by the very thing they were studying – – a pyroclastic flow.
Certification:
UK: PG; US: PG. (From the BBFC: “Mild injury detail, threat”).
Talent:
Starring: Katia Krafft, Maurice Krafft, Miranda July (narrator).
Directed by: Sara Dosa.
Written by: Shane Boris, Erin Casper, Jocelyne Chaput.
Twitter Handle: #FireOfLoveMovie.
A couple literally living on the edge: Katia & Maurice Krafft . (Source: arsenal-berlin.de ).
“Fire of Love” Review:
Positives:
- Star of the show here is the stunning videography of Maurice Krafft, capturing the most violent aspects of nature in compelling detail. Some of this footage is pure poetry: waterfalls of molten lava; an underwater volcanic bomb popping and exploding its molten contents.
- Did these people have a death wish? They didn’t seem scared of death and Maurice certainly lived life very close to the edge. They describe a night on a volcanic Indonesian island where one of them sleeps and the other is watching for the trails of volcanic bombs to drag the sleeper out of the way if necessary! And they ‘feel’ semi-molten lava with their boots and hop over still steaming lava fields and mud flats which might cave in at any moment (and does on one occasion, injuring Maurice’s leg).
- In one particularly gripping (stupid?) stunt, Maurice and a geologist colleague (“The chemists knew better and wouldn’t go!”) paddle a second hand cheap rubber dingy into the middle of a cauldron filled with concentrated acid. The lake is so toxic it melts through the steel cable of the measuring equipment they are dangling in the liquid! One only has to remember the granny in “Dante’s Peak” to realise that that is a helplessly moronic thing to do!
Negatives:
- Unfortunately, the film is weighted down by a ludicrously emotive, unhelpful and leaden voiceover. It’s full of stuff like ‘listening to the earth’s heartbeat and seeing its blood flowing’. It really spoiled my enjoyment of the film in a big way.
- Animations depicting the ‘love story’ between the volcanic couple really didn’t add anything for me, and – combined with the associated voiceover – I found them twee and irritating. They were just a couple who happened to do the same job. So what? Move on!
- I am a geophysicist by academic training, so did geology courses. So I do know a lot about volcanoes, plate tectonics and continental drift. But does the rest of the general population? Perhaps, but given this is a PG film there will be school-age children watching this and a bit of explanation as to the terms used wouldn’t have gone amiss. THIS is where the animated graphics could have usefully been deployed.
Summary Thoughts on “Fire of Love”
It’s a brilliant documentary showing the live of these two brave scientists. But the voiceover really irritated the hell out of me.
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Trailer for “Fire of Love”:
The trailer is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oMArx64RBO4 .
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