The Salt of the Earth

This dazzling documentary chronicles the work of humanistic photographer Sebastião Salgado—as seen through the eyes of his son, Juliano, and acclaimed German filmmaker Wim Wenders. This unique visual odyssey journeys into the “heart of darkness”, as Salgado comments on one of his most indelible images: a picture of 50,000 men laboring in the vast Serra Pelada gold mine, a shot that formed part of Salgado's indigenous Workers: An Archeology of the Industrial Age series. Born in the Brazilian mining town of Minas Gerais, Salgado studied economics, and worked with the World Bank in France in 1969 (after Brazil's military coup). Seeking artistic fulfillment, Salgado and his wife, Lélia, embarked for Niger, where he began to take striking photos that captured nobility amidst suffering and deprivation. “We humans are a terrible animal; we are extremely violent,” Salgado notes. “Our history is a history of war; it's an endless story.” Determined to live with the people he was photographing, Salgado developed a deep understanding of their dire situation while also becoming bitterly disillusioned about mankind's salvation. Salvado eventually returned to Brazil, where he found his family's once-verdant ranch parched by draught. Working with Lélia, he launched an experimental program of reforestation, conservation, and education, which would become Instituto Terra, serving as a model for similar efforts worldwide. Salgado's latest pictorial project, Genesis, highlights pristine areas of Earth that have retained their primordial characteristics. Wenders, one of the most important auteurs to emerge from the New German Cinema period in the 1970s, wisely films this cinematic study mostly in black-and-white, matching Salvado's starkly haunting photographic eye. An Oscar nominee for Best Documentary, this is highly recommended. [Note: Blu-ray/DVD Combo extras include audio commentary by filmmakers Wim Wenders and Juliano Ribeiro Salgado, deleted scenes (42 min.), a retrospective with Wenders and Salgado (12 min.), and trailers. Bottom line: a fine extras package for an excellent documentary.] (S. Granger)