Fire of Love

It's Oscar season now, and I've got a review for one of the nominated documentaries already. This is Fire of Love, which is the frontrunner as far as I know. Then again, only one of the other nominees is on streaming now. So, that could change.

Sara Dosa chronicles the lives of Katia and Maurice Kraffts, the world's most famous married French volcanologists. They met during the May 68 protests and married in 1970. Over the next few decades, they traveled and chronicled the world's hot spots. Their destinations included Mount St. Helens to Mount Unzen, the latter of which, narrator Miranda July tells us up front, is where they met their demise in 1991. 

Their documentary footage comprises most of its 93 minutes. The end result tells us a lot about their personal lives and the Earth itself. The Kraffts and their friends put their lives - and their clothes - at risk in one hot spot. Maurice dips his booted feet into lava and later plots a volcanic canoe ride. A first-time viewer would understandably question some of their methods. But once it gets to the Armero Tragedy, when Nevado del Ruz "unexpectedly" erupted in 1985, you'll understand them. They knew the risks and chronicled volcanoes so that no one else would have to die.

It's a tale of two scientists in love. The film tells us three different accounts of how they met, all of them charming. The chronicles of their early expeditions are as fun to watch as they must have had having them. You'll see them as committed to each other as they were to volcanology. Katia chronicling the Armero Tragedy without Maurice is a moving account. Even though they were ignored prior to that disaster, they weren't ignored when Mount Pinatubo erupted a week after their deaths. 58,000 people were evacuated prior to that disaster thanks to them.

Its educational side is rewarding. The lava flows they filmed are spectacular, moving like cake batter on the surface. Their volcano categories - red (steadily flowing hotspots) and gray (ticking time bombs) - are invaluable ways to help anticipate disaster. One fascinating tidbit is that Munch's The Scream was partially inspired by the Krakatoa eruption of 1883. I'm not kidding when I say I didn't know that. I bet you'll have that reaction too. That tidbit comes up when they chronicled the 1979 eruption of Anak Krakatau.

Fire of Love is ready to stream on Disney + now. You'll learn as much about volcanoes as about the people who chronicled them. You'll see how two volcanologists made a difference in their relatively short lives. It's a winner even if it's not the eventual winner. Hopefully, the other contenders will show up before the Oscars on March 12th.

 Tick tock, tick tock...