LOS ANGELES, United States — French scientists Maurice
and Katia Krafft were brought together, and eventually killed, by their shared
love of volcanoes.
اضافة اعلان
Now the married couple are the subject of “Fire of Love,” a new film
constructed from hours of dazzling, terrifying and occasionally quirky footage
they shot close to — and even inside — erupting craters.
Playing in a limited number of
US theaters, the documentary from National
Geographic and prestigious indie distributor Neon (“Parasite”) is earning rave
reviews and generating early awards buzz.
Director Sara Dosa first stumbled upon the pair’s “spectacular imagery”
while researching another documentary about Icelandic volcanoes — but was drawn
more to the “love that just radiates behind the lens, unlike anything else.”
For 25 years, the Kraffts had traveled the world together in search of
active volcanoes, writing some 20 books and making five feature films, plus
countless television programs and lectures.
But they are perhaps best remembered today for their deaths side-by-side
on Japan’s Mount Unzen volcano, which erupted in 1991 after nearly two
centuries dormant, sending a fatal cloud of gas and ash surging down its
eastern flank.
“Fire of Love” begins and ends with this tragic information — yet it
spends the bulk of its running time on the “love triangle” between the couple
and their lifelong obsession.
“Once we really learned about them as people... and the fact that they
were married and also seemed to be in love with volcanoes — that’s when we
thought, ‘okay, we want to make a film of these people,’” Dosa told AFP.
“We wanted to tell kind of a mythic love story that was told through the
language of volcanoes,” she added.
“That’s what drew them together in the first place, and that was the propulsive
material, the fuel of their relationship.”
Reckless love
While
Maurice was the more extroverted and ostensibly thrill-seeking of
the pair — he paddles in an acid lake and plots to kayak down an active lava
stream — Katia was similarly courageous in the face of peril.
Their gung-ho approach drew criticism from some of their scientific peers,
but “I don’t think that we ever found them reckless, quite honestly,” said
Dosa.
“They ultimately did lead a deeply meaningful life and die a meaningful
death. And so much of that was this pursuit of love,” she added.
“I’m sure many people will say perhaps it was a reckless love, but for us,
it was the way for them to live.”
After witnessing the staggering 1980 eruption of Mount St Helens in the
northwestern
US, and the Nevado del Ruiz disaster that killed up to 25,000
Colombians five years later, the pair reoriented their work to lobby
governments for better evacuation planning.
“Since they were some of the only people really capturing those images,
they were uniquely suited to do that advocacy work,” said Dosa.
“And that is literally what they were trying to do as they died on
mountains in 1991.”
Salve
Aside from informing modern audiences about the pair’s work, Dosa hopes
the film can remind viewers that the planet is not simply “a resource to be
capitalized upon.”
“These kinds of stories about the aliveness, the sentience of the Earth,
are all the more important to counteract the exploitation,” she said.
Making the film
during the pandemic and “having these guides, Katia and Maurice, teaching you
how to navigate the unknown, and who knew how to reconcile fear — that was such
a salve and a refuge for us.”
And then there is the aesthetic beauty of the footage itself, full of
glowing red lava and alien-looking volcanic landscapes, all captured in a
distinctive style with “the hallmarks of the French New Wave.”
“For example, in the cinematography, there was a lot of playful snap
zooms, which reminded us of films in France from the 60s and 70s,” she said.
“And their own writing — they authored nearly 20 books — almost recalled
the bombastic and playful spirit of narration in Truffaut films.”
Dosa herself drew on that style, including the documentary’s own, breathy
narration.
“One of the great narrative devices of the French New Wave was love
triangle stories,” said Dosa.
“And for us, that was something that felt appropriate. Katia and Maurice
truly did seem to have a third in their relationship — volcanoes.”
Read more Trending
Jordan News
.jpg)
.jpg)
