The Salt of the Earth: Meaning

The Salt of the Earth is a fascinating documentary that plunges into the life and work of renowned Brazilian photographer Sebastião Salgado.

Directed by Wim Wenders and Juliano Ribeiro Salgado, the film offers an intimate glimpse into Salgado's work and personal journey, spanning over four decades, documenting historical events, humanitarian crises, and the untouched beauty of nature.

The Salt of the Earth is a documentary that tells the remarkable story of Sebastião Salgado, the man who changed the world when he decided to take a borrowed camera, enjoyed the experience, and thus began his career as a photographer.

Soon, he and his wife, Lélia Salgado, realized that Sebastião could have a greater and more positive impact on his life by using his obvious natural talent as a photographer, showing people what was right and what was wrong with the world we live in.

While Juliano narrates and films the story of his father, Wenders directs, showing a man applying his impressive talent to enrich our understanding of the world we live in and how we can improve it.

In The Salt of the Earth, we see a man with a thick beard and a sparkle in his eyes transforming into a man whose face and head are bald and whose impenetrable eyes contradict the emotion that occasionally breaks his voice when speaking about his experiences.

This film avoids the few documentaries and allows the black-and-white images of the photographer to speak for themselves, many of them on the screen for a brief moment as the camera seems to move through them to reveal the face of the man telling the stories behind the documentary.

The title of the film is a biblical reference, Mateus 5:13:

'You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.

The Salt of the Earth: DETAILS/TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

Title: The Salt of the Earth

Direction: Wim Wenders and Juliano Ribeiro Salgado
Screenplay: Wim Wenders, Juliano Ribeiro Salgado, and David Rosier
Cast: Sebastião Salgado
Production: David Rosier
Cinematography: Hugo Barbier, Juliano Ribeiro Salgado, and Lélia Salgado
Editing: Maxine Goedicke, Rob Myers
Genre: Biography, Documentary
Country: Brazil, France, Italy
Year: 2014 - release: March 26, 2015 (Brazil)
Country: France | Brazil | Italy
Locations: Yalimo, Papua, Indonesia
Duration: 110 min
Color: Black and white