A literally burning love

French citizens Katia and Maurice Krafft were swallowed by a stream of hot gas and volcanic material on June 3, 1991, during the eruption of the Unzen volcano in Japan. In a way, they couldn't complain about their fate. They died surrounded by what they had loved for decades as a couple of volcanologists.  

After being mentioned in the film Into the Hell, by Werner Herzog (See the excerpt here.), the year 2022 brought them a Revival cinematic. Herzog himself directed it. The Fire Within: A Requiem for Katia and Maurice Krafft using only material filmed by them (Watch the trailer here.In turn, American documentary filmmaker Sara Dosa told the couple's story in a more traditional way in this... Fire of Love, released on Brazilian streaming services with the sensationalist title Volcanoes: The Tragedy of Katia and Maurice Krafft.

Okay, tragedy struck in Japan. But before that, there was a rich history of adventures, companionship, and the production of films, photos, and books. Katia and Maurice produced images to sell and finance their travels wherever a volcano was about to erupt or had just exploded. She, a geochemist, he, a geologist, joined their lives and specializations to study "what makes the heart of the earth beat and the blood flow," in their metaphorical words. 

The film treats us to stunning images of the two in places like Iceland, Zaire, Italy, Indonesia, Canada, and Colombia, always getting as close as possible to the craters with their burning or smoking calderas. In some cases, when they were late for an unexpected eruption, they documented the scene of destruction left behind. Maurice's dream was to navigate a river of lava in a boat, since doing so in a lake of acid didn't seem so risky to him.  

Sara Dosa shares their desire to romanticize their work, presenting a portrait of a couple in love with each other and with volcanoes – even though their consciences told them that perhaps they shouldn't worship such a destructive natural phenomenon so much. Hence, one of her most important films was a warning about the dangers of volcanoes. 

Katia and Maurice certainly deserve the hero treatment they've received – even if reckless, because every hero needs to be reckless. But I can't help but be impressed by the inattention given to their teams, especially the cameramen who risked as much as, or even more than, they did to film them at the mercy of the "volcanic bombs" and rivers of lava. They were stars of volcanology and, therefore, were rarely alone. 

Maurice claimed that he initially turned to volcanoes because he didn't much appreciate human beings. This obsession led the couple to constantly negotiate between fear and curiosity. In sketching an analysis of their different, yet converging, personalities, Fire of Love It seeks to extrapolate the theme of natural adventure to reach a spiritual dimension. The subject matter is eminently Herzogian, but Sara Dosa honors it with a beautiful and intense film. 

>> Volcanoes: The Tragedy of Katia and Maurice Krafft It's on the Disney+ platform.