Salt and Fire

I began watching this film because I've always found Garcia Bernal an interesting actor. The beginning of the film was mysterious enough to hold my attention, but as it progressed, I found my interest waning. At about the halfway point I felt I had already invested so much time I couldn't stop watching. Then, as it progressed even further, I realized the only thing continuing to hold my attention was Veronica Ferres. That woman must have the longest legs in the world! Herzog needs to realize that presenting intellectual concepts in dramatic movie format must be dealt with very carefully or it becomes all too easy for the plot to become really boring!

I am a life long fan of Herzog ever since Aguirre. And who has seen Burden of Dreams and not been astounded at the labor and pain he has been through to give us his great works of art? But this film is truly truly the nadir of his works. It is just so obvious and one dimensional. Sadly we are also seeing Mike Shannon is a good character actor ,but is simply not a good lead actor.

A Franco-American-German drama; A story about a scientist who blames the head of a large company for ecological disaster in South America, but when a volcano begins to show signs of erupting, they must unite to avoid a disaster. This film has a theme about the conflict between science and business, where humans are being changed by their environment. As early as a quarter of an hour in, it becomes apparent that the film was not made with care. Poor editing, shaky camera tracking, and a poor script with stilted dialogue that falters. Tangential conversations lead nowhere, and characters introduced are left hanging; where there is focus on character exposition, it is ham-fisted. There are recondite descriptions and bumper-sticker philosophising like, "Truth is the only daughter of time." That said, it is an ambitious project, and it has heart in its message. Michael Shannon brings watchability, and the beautiful Bolivian locales help while we ponder the director's message about pollution. As an aside, viewers who are familiar with the director's reputation as a pioneer of New German cinema will assume he got bogged down in his passion project because it is poor by his high standards.

This film tells the story of a team of three scientists who are sent to South America by the United Nations to investigate the extent of environmental damage by a multinational corporation. After arrival, they get kidnapped and imprisoned against their will.

The plot summary makes the story sound like a thriller or a mystery, but it is surely none of these. The leading scientist, Laura, is so calm and assertive that there is little tension. In addition, the relationship between the captor and the kidnapped is so cordial and polite, that it just does not look like a kidnapping. It is more like two friends talking about everything in the world. Then, towards the middle of the film, Laura is abandoned in a remote spot. Again, she is so calm and relaxed about the life threatening situation, that she manages to play a game of Ludo! The story is just unbelievably absurd, and it is plain boring. I can imagine that the film would not have been made, if it was not for the well respected and revered director. If it was not for the amazing scenery, I would have rated it even lower.

The first hour of this movie is pretty bad, story/ acting, pointless flashback. but the last half hour is spectacular. worth watching for the end. maybe skip to it.