THIS ‘FIRE OF LOVE’ NEVER ERUPTS

---

By Gregory Crofton

I went to see “Fire of Love” the other night here in Nashville at the Belcourt Theatre, a movie with a 99% approval rating from Rotten Tomatoes critics.

Enough volcano documentaries have already been made, but I trudged to the cinema in the name of nonfiction film!

It probably didn’t help that I had to watch “Fire of Love” on the Belcourt’s smallest screen. It would definitely be better seen on a larger one. It’s loaded with marvelous footage of red-orange lava and thick grey volcanic ash clouds, all of it shot on film.

However this hot doc doesn’t live up to all of its marketing and review hype. Despite emo-narration by Miranda July, you aren’t really able to get to know Maurice and Katia Krafft, a French couple who worked and died together as volcanologists in 1991.

What director Sara Dosa does well, unfortunately, is stretch a fantastic short film into a 98-minute movie. Go see it only if you’re in the mood for lots of lava, tumbling rocks and smoke. Don’t go if you’re in the market for a truly moving love story.

---