Salt and Fire

Salt and Fire (2016)

* 1/2 (out of 4)

Three scientists are on their way to give a report to the United Nations when they are taken hostage. Laura (Veronica Ferres) is the main focus as one of the kidnappers (Michael Shannon) wants to make sure she realizes what a greedy company can do to people and their environment.

Werner Herzog is one of the most fascinating filmmakers to ever grace film buffs yet there's no question that something went horribly wrong with this picture. Herzog has a brilliant mind and probably a mind that is a lot more intelligent than the majority of the people who watch his films yet for the life of me I don't know what he was trying to do with this picture. He wrote the screenplay so I'm sure he was trying to get some sort of message across about ruining the world that we live in but it comes as a pretty epic fail.

SALT AND FIRE is a very weird film and a very bad one at times. Again, I'm sure Herzog had something in mind but sadly it just didn't come to life on the screen and the end result is a rather boring and flat film. It starts off as a hostage/thriller type of picture yet there's never any suspense and for the life of me I can't even see where the director even attempted to build any. I'm really not sure what the entire point of this opening kidnapping was if you weren't going for some sort of suspense.

Things don't get much better once the lead scientist and her taker begin to form a strange relationship. Again, what the point of this was is rather confusing because it just doesn't play out in the picture. We then get another set up with the woman out in a salt field with two blind children. I think these sequences are the most interesting in the film and I'm sure something great could have been done with this alone but it just wasn't to be. Even these scenes are full of bad moments where there's just no pay off or anything of real interest.

Both Ferres and Shannon are good in their roles but there's just so much any great actor can do with mediocre parts. The film does features a rather nice and unique music score and I'd argue that the cinematography was very good as well. The film was shot in Boliva and we've got some terrific visuals to look at but sadly just about everything else is flat. SALT AND FIRE is a real misfire from a legendary director who usually delivers much better.

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.

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.

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.

This is my first time rating a film on IMDb although I am a frequent user of the sight and enjoy it thoroughly.

I felt compelled to write this quick review as I can't believe actors like Mike Shannon and Gael Garcia Bernal took the roles in this terrible film. Adding to the fact Werner Herzog wrote, Produced and Directed this film lent some hope to its credibility, yet, it was by far, IMO, One of, if not THE, worst film he ever did.

I am a fan of his documentaries, but, barring Fitzcarraldo, he has no business making feature length films. The acting was God awful. The dialog was meaningless with no plot intent in sight. The film dragged from the opening scene to the very last scene. Even with Shannon's talent, his dialog portrayed him as dull and confused. Not the intense, Broad range performance's you expect from him. The film makes an attempt at being profound but fails dismally. I left the screening scratching my head wondering, "What the heck was this film about"?....Then, it occurred to me. It was about 98 minutes too long!

Do yourself a favor and don't waste your time.