Fire of Love: Reviewing the Nature Film and Love Story

If you love watching nature films and enjoy an epic love story here and there, then Fire of Love is the perfect film for you to watch this weekend. The nature film is so different from any other nature film we have seen before and takes us through an incredible journey not just through volcanic tundra but into the hearts and minds of the film’s two main characters.

 The documentary film revolves around the journey taken by two married French volcanologists, Maurice and Katia Krafft. The couple travel through the tundra in search of a grand volcano. However, there are no active volcanoes or hot lava in sight. Only the vast, white landscapes of the tundra surround them.

Maurice and Katia have spent most of the 1970s and 80s studying to become volcanologists. The film phrases this in a much more moving and romantic way, where volcanology is seen as the study of how the Earth’s heart beats.

The documentary film is narrated by the filmmaker herself, Miranda July, who also acts in the film. Using over 200 hours of footage of the tundra that was accumulated by the Kraffts themselves, as well as interviews the Kraffts conducted and various journal entries and book extracts, the film is visually breathtaking and extraordinary, giving us a unique insight into the research and analysis the Kraffts dedicated their lives to carrying out.

 The first few minutes of the documentary film set a tragic and moving tone for the rest of the film as July narrates the eventual death of the Kraffts. Once the audience knows the Kraffts will not make it out of the expedition alive, every small moment shared between them becomes more intense and coveted. The pair eventually died at the base of Mount Unzen in Japan in 1991.

Throughout the film, we see short and whimsical sequences of the love and work shared by the Kraffts, and they are depicted as two people who were truly meant to spend their lives together and stay together even in their deaths. This is the aspect of the film that takes it past just any other nature film and transforms it into an especially moving and tragic love story.

Additionally, the film has a beautiful and artistic flair to it that we do not get to see in clean, modern nature films. Because the film uses authentic footage and photographs captured by the Kraffts, we get to see the tundra and the volcanoes through their eyes and their personal twist on it. As the film progresses, the tone shifts from a playful and happy expression of love between the couple to a more sober and philosophical understanding of their love and their passion for their work.

Overall, Fire of Love has got to be one of the most incredible nature films we have seen this year, and there are very few other films that can achieve what this one has set out to achieve. Be sure to check out the inspirational, enchanting, and truly moving film.