Fire of Love and The Fire Within: The Cinematic Event of the Year

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I was searching for a way to stream Fire of Love and accidentally stumbled into The Fire Within. "Directed by Werner Herzog? Is this a mistake?" I asked myself since the film had completely slipped by my radar. It hasn't received much attention which shows the focus and priorities of film critics these days. To my mind, the creation of two films in one year about the volcanologist couple is the cinematic event of 2022.

If I were to teach a film school class, I'd begin the semester with this double feature. It's a fascinating study of how two filmmakers could draw from the same archive of footage, utilize some of the same filmmaking tools such as narration, and come up with two drastically different films. It's the perfect demonstration of the storyteller's voice.

Fire of Love, released first, focuses more on the relationship of the Kraffts than their study of volcanoes. Filmmaker Sara Dosa is clearly more interested in their marriage and how the couple's love of these fiery beasts drew them together. From a female director's perspective with another female filmmaker (Miranda July) as voiceover narrator, Fire of Love leans towards Katia, the edit leaning towards her footage and painting a picture of a more reasonable, less reckless person compared to the daredevil Maurice. There's a slight sense of judgement in this preference. I like July's work, especially her first feature, but her voice didn't quite match this material, nor did the animations and flashier aspects of the piece. Fire of Love is the more produced of the two features about the Kraffts, the more complex, and also the less fascinating of the two. To be clear, I still think it's a fine film, entertaining and at times moving, but in comparison to The Fire Within, it does not feel as substantial.

Ironically, Herzog's is the more personal of the two films. Though he barely touches on the romantic relationship of the Kraffts and instead chooses to focus on their work itself, the admiration and awe he has for his fellow filmmakers turns his film into a touching, love letter. In the end, his pure respect and enthusiasm for their cinematic creations moved me to tears. Herzog's vision of this story is also simple compared to Dosa's. His minimalist approach features very little new material, relying almost exclusively on the Krafft's archive, music, and his own voice which he does not employ excessively. There are long sequences with only the Krafft's images, which sometimes evoke the past and other times the future end of the world, accompanied by Herzog's soundtrack selections, some of which are typical of the Bavarian's taste and others which come as a surprise. Though The Fire Within may lean more towards Maurice, it passes no judgement on the Krafft's, nor does his blindly celebrate their risk taking. Herzog acknowledges the dangerous situations they put themselves in and even the possibility that they might have avoided their fate in Japan without any sense of condemnation. This comes as no surprise as Herzog's work has often focused on characters like the Krafft's, outsiders and pioneers, and his own life has reflected that passion. In many ways, this is a return of a Herzog I haven't seen in a long while. Unlike the more straight-forward documentaries of recent years, The Fire Within is a cousin to Lessons of Darkness and Fata Morgana, two of my favorite "sci-fi" creations by my favorite filmmaker. It also shares DNA with Grizzly Man, a portrait of a fellow filmmaker who risked his life in the field.

Again, if film critics were really serious about cinema, they would consider the release of these two films to be the event of the year. Instead they're busy writing about Top Gun, Avatar, and a host of pretentious, prestigious crap. For me, Fire of Love and The Fire Within are what filmmaking is all about and their existence fills me with excitement. And as Herzog acknowledges in his DGA podcast interview, confirming that he feels no competition towards Dosa's version, many more films could be made about the Krafft's with their incredible footage. In an overly nostalgic world of remakes and reboots, he and Dosa have shown the way.

Watched Fire of Love on Disney+ and The Fire Within on Amazon