War Photographer

Year: 2002
Director: Directed by Christian Frei
Featuring: James Nachtwey, Christiane Amanpour, and Christiane Breustedt
Details: 96 minutes / First Run Features / Not Rated

James Nachtwey is a war photographer and considered one of the best, both for his exquisite artistry and his fearlessness in getting the shots that he needs. But unlike most other war photographers, Nachtwey isn’t blustery, talking about his adventures and experiences to anyone that’s willing listen. In fact, he’s one of the quietest documentary subjects I’ve seen. He lets his pictures do the talking.

When he does speak, it’s intelligent, slow and measured, addressing the passions and drive to capture his experiences on film. Nachtwey wants to expose the horrors of war, as much as he is a closet adrenaline junky. In the Academy Award nominated documentary War Photographer, we see him dodge bullets and tear gas in the Israel / Palestine conflict, uncovering mass graves in Bosnia, and visiting poverty stricken class of Malaysia, who live among the dangerous train tracks. He approaches these subjects without much explanation, snapping pictures at their most intimate and horrific moments. Nachtwey acknowledges that there’s no way he could snap pictures of such grief in the United States. But war creates a different understanding among the subjects. They implicitly allow him into their lives.

In fact, despite this close connection with violent conflict, War Photographer is one of the more quiet documentaries that you’ll see. With a digital camera mounted to his film camera, Nachtwey generates much of the footage himself. We see his finger lingering over the trigger, and realize just how close he gets to his grieving subjects. And that’s really the allure of this documentary, letting us into a singular experience. There’s no overarching narration describing where he is or what he’s doing, we simply watch him work and see the results of his artistry. We also get interviews with his co-workers, who have universal praise for his talents and integrity. This isn’t a character study though. We don’t know what really makes him tick, and we really don’t care.

After capturing all this hellish part of the world throughout the entire course of the movie, it’s only fitting that the movie ends with an experience that’s more akin to hell then anywhere I’ve seen - sulfur mines in South East Asia. The plume of choking yellow smoke looks like something out of a fantasy movie. Itinerant workers gather the sulfur, with a constant coughing echoing among the hills. Like the rest of his experiences, Nachtwey takes the experienced detached, taking photos, bringing these people’s experience to the world.

Movie Grade: A
Video: 4 out of 5
A pretty good of transfer of a Digital BetaCam source. The colors are bright and vivid and the subjects come shining out in their horrific glory.
Widescreen Anamorphic 1.85:1

Audio: 3 out of 5
It’s a Dolby Stereo presentation, but it gets the job done.
English (Dolby 2.0)

Extras: 1 out of 5
Damn you! About five minutes of interviews with the director and James Nachtwey. How stingy.

Overall: 4 out of 5
Despite the complete lack of extras on this one, there’s no way that you can avoid being drawn into a singular, heartbreaking experience. Highly recommended.

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