I went to see this critically acclaimed film with my friend photographer who had studied and emulated Sebastião Salgado well received and revered black and white work.
I had seen a suggestive and interesting movie trailer and was later pleased, doing my research, to see Wim Wenders involved. He had done the daring, decisive, eclectic, artistic tribute to Pina (2011) which I loved and to a lesser extent was able to catch some of the essence of Cuba and its music in Buena Vista Social Club (1999). Wenders is remarkable here and sets the tone. Now the other revelation as the co-writer/director as well as co-cinematographer is Sebastião Salgado's son: Juliano Ribeiro Salgado.
Juliano documents his father (and parts of his own) life and journey and makes the piece even more personal. This reminded me of the moving tribute of Nathaniel Kahn to his dad Louis Kahn in My Architect (2003) with a huge difference being that Sebastião Salgado (and even the grandfather Sebastião Salgado senior) were still alive to film together as opposed to a posthumous search for the trace of one's father through his work and people's anecdotes in the case of Khan.
As for the movie itself it is a treat to the eyes, heart, head and soul. It combines beautiful and often haunting photographs with story, narration, interview and introspection. It tell the tales in three prominent continents of the continuous search for understanding of humanity's worse and best achievements and attitudes. It conveys, loss, fear, hopelessness, innocence, injustice and intolerance. It talks about war, politics, environment, economics, etc. Salgado was surprisingly an economist before leaving his steady job with a dream and his wife's camera to wander in Africa in search of human truth.
He found that and more. A talent and an eye for camera, for capturing the man and the moment. The past, the future, the present and the context. The composition and the subtext... the sublime!
Will everyone appreciate this film? Probably not. Yet for those who have the interest, the patience and the chance to see this documentary and delve into the decades of work, thoughts, themes and realizations of one man (and his loving, equally brave and brilliant, supportive family) will be greatly enriched and inspired by it. This film is like talking to a father wise beyond his years. A wisdom shared and mutually understood if not lived. Lived through his words and pictures. Because beyond all the darkness and difficulties, there is a light.
Photography come from phōs meaning light
Another documentary for the ages.
I had seen a suggestive and interesting movie trailer and was later pleased, doing my research, to see Wim Wenders involved. He had done the daring, decisive, eclectic, artistic tribute to Pina (2011) which I loved and to a lesser extent was able to catch some of the essence of Cuba and its music in Buena Vista Social Club (1999). Wenders is remarkable here and sets the tone. Now the other revelation as the co-writer/director as well as co-cinematographer is Sebastião Salgado's son: Juliano Ribeiro Salgado.
Juliano documents his father (and parts of his own) life and journey and makes the piece even more personal. This reminded me of the moving tribute of Nathaniel Kahn to his dad Louis Kahn in My Architect (2003) with a huge difference being that Sebastião Salgado (and even the grandfather Sebastião Salgado senior) were still alive to film together as opposed to a posthumous search for the trace of one's father through his work and people's anecdotes in the case of Khan.
As for the movie itself it is a treat to the eyes, heart, head and soul. It combines beautiful and often haunting photographs with story, narration, interview and introspection. It tell the tales in three prominent continents of the continuous search for understanding of humanity's worse and best achievements and attitudes. It conveys, loss, fear, hopelessness, innocence, injustice and intolerance. It talks about war, politics, environment, economics, etc. Salgado was surprisingly an economist before leaving his steady job with a dream and his wife's camera to wander in Africa in search of human truth.
He found that and more. A talent and an eye for camera, for capturing the man and the moment. The past, the future, the present and the context. The composition and the subtext... the sublime!
Will everyone appreciate this film? Probably not. Yet for those who have the interest, the patience and the chance to see this documentary and delve into the decades of work, thoughts, themes and realizations of one man (and his loving, equally brave and brilliant, supportive family) will be greatly enriched and inspired by it. This film is like talking to a father wise beyond his years. A wisdom shared and mutually understood if not lived. Lived through his words and pictures. Because beyond all the darkness and difficulties, there is a light.
Photography come from phōs meaning light
Another documentary for the ages.