223. Salt Of The Earth (Le Sel De La Terre); movie review

 

SALT OF THE EARTH (LE SEL DE LA TERRE)

Cert 12A

110 mins

BBFC advice: Contains images of dead bodies

I first watched Wim Wenders Salt Of the Earth seven years ago. I am no longer a newspaper editor but my opinions have not change so here is a reprise of my review..

Away from this blog, I am a newspaper editor, so I love great photographs - in particular, black and white ones. 

Therefore, I could understand the labour of love which was Wim Wenders' documentary about his old friend Sebastiao Salgado. 

This biopic shows how Salgado learned the love of photography in his leisure time after having been trained as an economist. 

He had a keen eye but it was still a huge decision for him to ditch his well-paid job while having a young family and turn to taking pictures full-time. 

For the past four decades, he has travelled continents recording history and the environment. 

Some of the pictures of conflict, starvation and exodus are heartbreaking. 

His lens intruded on terrible grief but it was important that it did. Some images show him as a rare interloper among indigenous tribes. He seems oblivious to any dangers. 

In more recent times, he has taken up green causes of his native Brazil and is compiling images of untouched territories around the world in order to document the earth's beauty. 

Wenders, himself a photographer, is joined by Salgado's son Juliano in creating this tribute film. 

Because they are both huge admirers, it is more of a eulogy than a biopic but that doesn't make it any less fascinating or inspirational. 

Reasons to watch: An incredible worldwide journey across the 20th century 

Reasons to avoid: Quite arty

Laughs: None

Jumps: None

Vomit: None

Nudity: Yes

Overall rating: 8/10

Did you know? Salgado was the only son of a cattle rancher who wanted him to become a lawyer. Instead, he studied economics at São Paulo University, earning a master's degree in 1968. While working as an economist for the Ministry of Finance (1968–69), he joined the popular movement against Brazil's military government.

The final word.  Juliano Salgado: "Sebastião talks about the people and the stories and you’re there in that moment, reliving it as a very real cinematic experience in which you’re able to understand Sebastião’s subjectivity. It’s a complementary hallucinatory situation." ICA

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