Fire of Love (PG)
Directed by Sara Dosa

THE burning love story of intrepid French scientists and lovers Katia and Maurice Krafft, and their lifelong passion for volcanoes, is recounted in this mind-blowing documentary through the explosive and stunning imagery they captured themselves.

Almost two years in the making, co-writer director Sara Dosa and her team watched 250 hours of archival footage, 200 of which was original footage shot by the Kraffts.

The rest, interviews with the two, provide an insight into this extraordinary married couple who decided against having children in order to pursue their volcanic love.

“It’s hard for volcanologists to live together — it’s volcanic,” reveals Maurice as Katia smiles and laughs knowingly beside him in one clip.

He also prophetically admits on camera that their work will probably kill him, which he accepts, with Katia more than happy to be by his side when that happens.

It is heart-stopping to see how close the fearless duo got time and time again to erupting volcanoes across the globe in their quest to study and resolve the enigma of these natural phenomena.

The film shows how they lay the foundations for modern-day volcanology, and how their detailed studies helped to save lives.

But it also depicts two people who adored each other and who were funny and charming, while deadly serious about their work and the planet.

One shot of them from the late 1960s in silver-foil-like suits against a backdrop of burning red lava is very psychedelic, and seems more like a scene out of a space film.

Narrated by Miranda July, you cannot help but be captivated by this amazing couple who were killed by their greatest love, on Japan’s Mount Unzen in June 1991.

It is humbling to see the power of nature and these volcanoes in this film, which needs to be viewed on the big screen to appreciate their staggering magnitude.

In cinemas