Katia and Maurice Krafft went to the end of their passion, both literally and figuratively. The couple of French filmmakers and scientists who were dedicated to the study of volcanoes perished on June 3, 1991 at the foot of Mount Unzen, a volcanic complex located on the southwestern tip of Japan. They were swept away by a blast of ash and gas similar to that which claimed 57 lives when Mount St. Helens, Washington, erupted in 1980. Documentary filmmaker Sara Dosa recounts the life of the Kraffts in fire of lovea visually stunning and terrifying documentary.
Katia (Catherine) did her university studies in chemistry and physics, Maurice in geology. She took and analyzed gas, rock, and lava samples and photographed her subjects; he set out to explore, filming his encounters with these dangerous terrestrial phenomena. In work as in love, they complemented each other, intrepid volcanologists whose audacity and determination were the envy of their less intrepid or courageous colleagues.
It is their story that Sara Dosa tells from a magnificent job of editing and editing the many films that the couple have taken from their expeditions around the world, always in search of the next eruption. Even without the narration (which we would otherwise have done without, the voice of the actress Miranda July is so monotonous that she would succeed in extinguishing the Krakatoa) or the few interviews conducted with those who knew the Kraffts, this film would have been a feast for the eyes, the images captured (800 reels of film!) by Maurice never cease to fascinate us, and sometimes make us laugh, like this expedition in a second-hand inflatable on an acid lake formed near a volcano. Left on the shore, Katia rages at her husband’s carelessness…
Outside the circle of volcanologists, few know the name Krafft or even their contribution to science and to the world – we will learn by listening to the film the importance of their efforts to raise public awareness of the dangers of volcanoes, after the catastrophic eruption of Nevado del Ruiz in Colombia (1985) with more than 25,000 victims. It is thanks to their film that the Philippine authorities chose to evacuate tens of thousands of inhabitants of the Mount Pinatubo region five days before its eruption in 1991, which nevertheless killed more than 800 people.
However, the French themselves have known Maurice Krafft well, a well-known character invited on TV sets to talk about his passion for volcanoes, with his crafty and carefree appearance: “I’m never afraid because I’ve seen so many eruptions in 23 years that even if I die tomorrow, I don’t care,” he once said in an interview. It was through their television appearances, their documentaries and their numerous books on volcanoes that the couple financed their expeditions around the world.
Presented at the Sundance festival, then at South by Southwest earlier this year, fire of love earned Sara Dosa several accolades, notably for the quality of her editing.