The Salt of the Earth

Name: The Salt of the Earth
Genre: Biography, Documentary
Released: March 27, 2015
Duration: 110 min
Rating: 83

2015

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Universal acclaim based on 29 Critic Reviews

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USER SCORE

Universal acclaim based on 42 Ratings

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8.2

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8.2	User Score Universal acclaim based on 42 Ratings

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Movie Details & Credits

Sony Pictures Classics | Release Date: March 27, 2015 | PG-13

Summary: For the last 40 years, the photographer Sebastião Salgado has been travelling through the continents, in the footsteps of an ever-changing humanity. He has witnessed some of the major events of our recent history; international conflicts, starvation and exodus. He is now embarking on the discovery of pristine territories, of wild fauna andFor the last 40 years, the photographer Sebastião Salgado has been travelling through the continents, in the footsteps of an ever-changing humanity. He has witnessed some of the major events of our recent history; international conflicts, starvation and exodus. He is now embarking on the discovery of pristine territories, of wild fauna and flora, and of grandiose landscapes as part of a huge photographic project which is a tribute to the planet's beauty.… Expand

Director: Juliano Ribeiro Salgado and Wim Wenders

Genre(s): Biography, Documentary

Rating: PG-13

Runtime: 110 min

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Metascore

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Critic Reviews

100

Empire David Hughes

Jul 14, 2015

Some of his Salgado's depictions of human suffering are not for the faint-hearted but, like this fine film, demand to be seen. Unmissable. Read full review

100

Sara Stewart

Mar 25, 2015

Many of the images — and Salgado’s accounts of taking them — are as soul-shattering as they are breathtaking. Read full review

Peter Rainer

Mar 27, 2015

Most of the photographs on view in The Salt of the Earth bear witness to great suffering, and what they exalt is not the photographer’s eye but the fearful humanity that binds us all. Read full review

Bill Stamets

Apr 2, 2015

This moving, Oscar-nominated documentary is an odyssey of a tragic observer. Read full review

Bilge Ebiri

Apr 4, 2015

It’s a fascinating meeting of three minds, and perspectives. Chief among them is Salgado himself. Read full review

Boyd van Hoeij

Dec 11, 2014

The Salt of the Earth doesn’t reveal so much as gracefully confirm that the empathy and humanism that make Salgado’s photojournalistic work so special are also a part of the artist’s outlook on life. Read full review

A.O. Scott

Dec 11, 2014

The Salt of the Earth leaves no doubt about Mr. Salgado’s talent or decency, and the chance to spend time in his company is a reason for gratitude. And yet his pictures, precisely because they disclose harsh and unwelcome truths, deserve a harder, more robustly critical look. Read full review

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User Reviews

alejandro970

Apr 16, 2017

Absorbing documentary of the long odyssey of photographer Sebastiao Salgado. Touching pictures that mixes the beauty of nature and the human tragedy, some of them are heart breaking so breathless. A shall to see.

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

Rhetorician

Oct 27, 2015

This is the best movie that I have seen this year. I watched in on a transatlantic flight, not knowing what it was. I found myself sobbing in the dark at the beauty and tragedy of the narrative of the documentary and tragic images of Salgado's photographs. "Everyone in the world should seeThis is the best movie that I have seen this year. I watched in on a transatlantic flight, not knowing what it was. I found myself sobbing in the dark at the beauty and tragedy of the narrative of the documentary and tragic images of Salgado's photographs. "Everyone in the world should see these images," he says at one point, "so that they know how cruel we can be." This film changed my perspective and made me think about international events of my lifetime in a way that I never had before. I have yet to talk to anyone else who has seen this. I hope that will change.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

lunanul

Jan 6, 2016

One of the most intense moviegoing experiences of the year. Multiple moments of absolutely stunning beauty and horror. Does that sound like a recommendation? It is.

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

LeZee

Oct 14, 2016

The pictures tell us all the story, and when it does, you'll be heartbroken!

This was nominated for the Oscars, but did not win. I should have watched it earlier, but I don't know how I forgot it and moved on. Recently noticed that I've missed it, so finally gave it a try and I reallyThe pictures tell us all the story, and when it does, you'll be heartbroken!

This was nominated for the Oscars, but did not win. I should have watched it earlier, but I don't know how I forgot it and moved on. Recently noticed that I've missed it, so finally gave it a try and I really liked, but very sad to learn what the film narrated. This is a biopic, an aged photographer who traveled world revealed his experience with those horrifying encounters the humanity ever saw. From South America to Europe and Africa to Pacific Asia, he takes us back to the 70s, 80s and the 90s. His pictures tell us all the story, but when he explain more surround those pictures when he had taken them, that's where not just me, anybody who sees this documentary would be heartbroken.

Initially I thought it was just a photo exhibition from the past 40- 50 years of his life, but after the opening few minutes, it kicked off from Brasil to the different parts of the world, like how people suffered from our own mistakes. Also the nature like the oil fields in Iraq, polar and sea animals, tribes, all are very fascinating, as well as upsets with the facts that causing all those troubles. Before watching this I thought it might tell about actual salt of the Earth, the chemistry, to brief its past, present and future. But what the film revealed was shocking and at a time, thanks for being very bold, for the present world, it definitely needed.

This is just one man's experience, we don't know what might have happened behind when there is no camera to capture the moment and to tell the story to the rest of the world. A must see film, a documentary film like this is never late to see, even if it takes a lifetime to watch, you must take that chance and do that before you die. I have seen lots of documentaries like this, but this is not a message deliverer, it just finger pointed to our mistakes. You will learn some of the history that you ever learnt from your school, college textbooks or from your own journey around the world. So definitely these pictures are priceless. Not to admire, but to remind not to repeat in the future. I hope you watch it right away after reading my review.

8/10… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

FilmPhonic

Jul 24, 2015

Wenders begins the film explaining the Greek origins of the word photography as “drawing with light” and establishing that people are “the salt of the earth”, photojournalist Sebastião Salgado is therefore the artist who draws the light of humanity, sometimes from the darkest placesWenders begins the film explaining the Greek origins of the word photography as “drawing with light” and establishing that people are “the salt of the earth”, photojournalist Sebastião Salgado is therefore the artist who draws the light of humanity, sometimes from the darkest places imaginable… and illuminates the majesty of the planet we’ve made our own, for better or worse.

It’s hard to believe that what is essentially a 2 hour narrated slideshow cut with limited modern video could be so compelling, but like all great documentarians, Wenders knows when to stay out of the way and let the subject and in this case the pictures tell the story, and believe us they are worth considerably more than a thousand words.

‘The Salt of the Earth’ spans Salgado’s intertwined personal & professional life following his 40 years of witnessing some of the most harrowing and monumental events around the world, from living with the indigenous people of the Andes to capturing the horrors of the Ethiopian famine in the mid 1980’s, capturing the extinguishing of the blazing Kuwaiti oil fields at the end of the 1st Gulf war to bearing witness to the Rwandan genocide of the mid 1990’s.

It’s quite remarkable how black & white photos set to a solid score can often be more evocative than moving pictures, many of the images of death in the film are hard to take as they linger to great effect, but like the great Akira Kurosawa once said “being an artist means not having to avert one’s eyes” and Salgado certainly doesn’t, his interviews and narration give the images a political and emotional context which also enhances the experience as a whole.

Like he did for music with ‘Buena Vista Social Club’ and dance with ‘Pina’, Wenders produces a tribute to the artistry of photography and shines a light on the remarkable life on one artist in particular, Salgado comes off like a man who sees what’s in front of his lens as more than a subject and takes a piece of everything he captures with him, although there is some light at the end of this tunnel Salgado does not offer a solution to the darkest parts of the human condition, but then again who can?

The Bottom Line…
Painfully compelling and impossible to forget, ‘The Salt of the Earth’ is often hard to watch but you can’t quite avert your eyes, as you shouldn’t, one of the more powerful documentaries in recent memory and perhaps the most vivid lesson in modern history you’re likely to have.… Expand

3 of 3 users found this helpful30

Brent_Marchant

Apr 3, 2015

A beautifully photographed but poorly organized documentary that has trouble making up its mind what it's actually trying to be. The film often feels like it's reaching to make a point that it can't quite articulate, and the flow is frequently interrupted by changes in tone, direction andA beautifully photographed but poorly organized documentary that has trouble making up its mind what it's actually trying to be. The film often feels like it's reaching to make a point that it can't quite articulate, and the flow is frequently interrupted by changes in tone, direction and content, as well as an occasionally overly intrusive presence by the filmmakers in the finished product. What could have easily been an elegant, aesthetically appealing collection of noble insights about man and his place in the world unfortunately gets bogged down in choppy execution, keeping the film from fully living up to its potential.… Expand

2 of 4 users found this helpful22

mmweiss

May 24, 2015

The film boils down to an ego trip, in which Salgado presents himself as a life-changing "true artist". It gets really repetitive and annoying after awhile.

1 of 1 users found this helpful10

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