The Salt of the Earth 2014

Bill Stamets, Chicago Sun-Times: This moving, Oscar-nominated documentary is an odyssey of a tragic observer. Read more

Sara Stewart, New York Post: Many of the images - and Salgado's accounts of taking them - are as soul-shattering as they are breathtaking. Read more

Jay Weissberg, Variety: Wim Wenders confirms his mastery of the documentary form with this stunning ode to Sebastiao Salgado. Read more

Keith Uhlich, AV Club: The film is, in large part, a story of an artist rediscovering his muse. Read more

Bill Goodykoontz, Arizona Republic: It is a fascinating film, and if it skimps somewhat on the moral complications of this kind of art, it holds nothing back in terms of volume: Image after image grabs our eye and often grips our throat. Read more

J. R. Jones, Chicago Reader: For this career-spanning documentary, director Wim Wenders accompanies the photographer on his travels, the color documentary footage punctuated by Salgados's stunning, minutely detailed black-and-white images. Read more

Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune: Is what we see grief porn or an epic, careerlong study in the best and worst we can find on Earth? See the film and decide for yourself. Read more

Peter Rainer, Christian Science Monitor: 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 more

Chris Nashawaty, Entertainment Weekly: With this heartbreaking yet hopeful new documentary about his life's work, Salgado shares the stories behind these split-second black-and-white moments, giving them even more dimension. Read more

Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times: Whether you're familiar with Salgado's name and work or not, the documentary "The Salt of the Earth," a popular prize-winner at Cannes and on the Oscar shortlist, will be a revelation. Read more

Rene Rodriguez, Miami Herald: The Salt of the Earth is a celebration of the power of art to change the world, as well as an exploration of the considerable toll gifted artists sometimes pay for their talents. Read more

John Anderson, Newsday: Stunning imagery and a stirring story, about Sebastiao Salgado and his 40-odd years of shooting global catastrophe. Read more

Ella Taylor, NPR: It looks lovely, yet Wenders' worshipful account of Salgado the man feels like a tale half told. Read more

Bob Mondello, NPR: Wenders, hoping to illuminate not just these images but the man who made them, has found an intriguing way to capture both Salgado and his work simultaneously. Read more

A.O. Scott, New York Times: [Mr. Salgado's] pictures, precisely because they disclose harsh and unwelcome truths, deserve a harder, more robustly critical look. Read more

Tirdad Derakhshani, Philadelphia Inquirer: The Salt of the Earth, has the power to draw you into its world, transfix, and perhaps eventually transform you. Read more

John Hartl, Seattle Times: The authenticity and artistry of the images in "The Salt of the Earth" cannot be denied. In any context, they'd be unforgettable. Read more

Geoff Pevere, Globe and Mail: Direct-to-camera testimonials are the movie's troubled heart, and raise the inescapable question of what happens to a soul when it gets to the point where it's simply seen too much. Read more

Peter Howell, Toronto Star: The film is at times too much in awe of its subject, failing to seriously address oft-expressed criticism that Salgado is a voyeur of global pain. But he's willing to get his hands dirty for real change. Read more

David Ehrlich, Time Out: Wenders's reverent enthusiasm for his subject is evident throughout the film, and he details every chapter of Salgado's life with an acolyte's inability to separate the wheat from the chaff. Read more

Stephanie Zacharek, Village Voice: The movie Wenders and Juliano have made is a tribute that feels both grand and modest in scale: Just as Salgado's photographs do, it extends the notion of friends and family to include every citizen of the world. Read more

Bilge Ebiri, New York Magazine/Vulture: Given this fractured-three-ways perspective, it's surprising how smoothly The Salt of the Earth moves, how gracefully it switches back and forth between the personal and the objective. Read more

Ann Hornaday, Washington Post: There are just as many breathtaking moments to be found in the film as there are in the work it's about. Read more

Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal: The film is suffused with his anguish over the state of our species, and our planet. Yet it ends with a change of heart and a turn of events that make a plausible case for hope. Read more