Salt and Fire

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.

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.

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!

Saw this last night at TIFF. it was hard to sit for the whole movie.. Acting was just terrible, it was like these people had never acted before, or maybe this was there first time acting in English.

As for the plot...Its a simple one with the story that is stretched for too long. At times you are wondering what does the last 10 min has to do with the overall story...This is what you get when the director writes the scripts, and produces the movie...it becomes a college project... and the music, at times you wonder what was he thinking..even the volume of the music was not same across the movie..

Its a 2 star, just for some of the cinematography... save yourself your time and stay away. A lot of people left right after the credit started, which is rare at TIFF.

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.