The Salt of the Earth

1. this is a very good documentary 2. the photographer has a unique eye and drive to travel to impossible places 3. only reason why I am giving it a 9 out of 10 is that I expected more happy moments along with all the starvation/war/struggling miner moments 4. I would still recommend this movie to any creative person who is interested in photography, human history, current events, and personal growth. 5. You will not be disappointed with his frames and photography skills! 6. they include personal moments and love stories to go along with his adventures and photography. 7. my favorite part was the scenes/photography about the Yugoslavian/Bosnian people and their struggles during the war because I used to be good friends with people from that culture back in my refugee days in Germany.

Go check out the movie!

It's a beautiful movie, though some parts were absolutely terrifying to watch.

There was no indication after watching several trailers of what lay ahead in terms of the suffering it very graphically depicted. It was almost about half the length of the film as well.

For most who are calloused, you will probably be fine. But be aware, those who are sensitive. It took me about 2 days to recover from the haunting images and pain they brought. I am glad I saw it though, because I received at least three wonderfully inspiring experiences from it:)

Wim Wenders being Wim Wenders, he has nothing left to prove about movie making. So most of this documentary is simply made by the pictures of Sebastião Salgado, and by close-ups of his face: he is looking at the images (but through the screen at the same time), while telling and explaining to the audience the genesis and the reasons of his work. It is very simple, yes, but at the same time it's extremely powerful. So powerful that, after a while, I was under the impression that those still b/w images were alive: crowds in the mass scenes seemed to move, people in portraits looked like they were going to turn their heads, and talk.

This movie should be shown in schools. The work of Salgado has testified some of the major (but lesser known) disasters of recent world history, none of which came within ear of the western world - much more interested in the brilliant lives of the fashion victims than in the tragic fate of the casualties of famines and wars.

Nietzsche famously once wrote: "When you look into the abyss, the abyss also looks into you". Salgado had the guts to stare to the abyss, without blinking - but clicking. He did it to give to others the opportunity to know, and possibly to better understand the meaning of the term "humanity". Some of Sebastião Salgado images are horrible, but it is by far more horrible to think that without him those horrors would have happened with nobody to remember about them. His work creates grounds for memory, and memory grows some chances for hope, and hope give us and some reason to believe in a better future for our troubled planet.

"We are a ferocious animal. We humans are terrible animals. Our history is a history of wars. It's an endless story, a tale of madness." – Sebastião Salgado

Directed by Wim Wenders and Juliano Ribeiro Salgado this documentary goes through the life of the photographer Sebastião Salgado, from its childhood times in Minas Gerais until his current role as an activist and founder of Instituto Terra. Not following the typical poetic and metaphorical style, and sometimes pretentious, that characterizes Wim so much, this documentary follows a simple line, however it's not a light viewing. In fact, it's hard, graphic and even chocking in some parts. Divided between the outside interpretations of Wim and Juliano, they reckon their perspectives were complemented with each other's, Juliano as son of Sebastião and Wim as the outside look, admirer of Salgado's work. But it's when Sebastião analyzes its photographs, the highlight of the film, that we realize who he really is and what he testified, transporting us into an incredible journey of anger, despair and hope.

A fascinating Wim Wenders documentary about Brazilian photographer, Sabastiao Salgado, detailing his life, and varied photographic projects from around the world. Wonderfully filmed, imaginatively edited.

Mainly known as a social photographer, Sabastiao Salgado has documented and revealed the horrors of war, famine and poverty. His travels around the world have accessed hidden brutalities and exposed injustices.

Perhaps as a respite from the human extremes he has witnessed he has recently moved on to projects about the environment. The film features many of his photos and numerous interviews with insights into his personal life.