Main Cast: James Nachtwey, Christiane Amanpour, Hans-Hermann Klare, Christiane Breustedt, Des Wright
Release Year: 2001
Country: US/CH
Run Time: 96 minutes
Plot
Christian Frei's documentary War Photographer follows acclaimed photojournalist James Nachtwey as he finds stories in some of the most desolate locations on the planet. The distinctive look of the film is achieved because Frei mounted a small camera on Nachtwey's camera. As the audience sees the world Nachtwey sees through his camera, a series of talking heads explain his bravery, greatness, and persistence. Slowly, the film reveals the emotional toll his work has taken on him. War Photographer was screened at the 2002 Cannes Film Festival. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
Review
This calm, somber, and serious film is as much about what it means to be a war photographer, including the philosophical issues involved in documenting human suffering, as it is about James Nachtwey's life and career. Indeed, Nachtwey remains a somewhat remote figure throughout the film, due partly to his reserved and self-effacing personality and partly to the filmmaker's apparent disinterest in delving too deeply into Nachtwey's background or personal life. However, some of the scenes in this movie offer a unique sense of visual intimacy because of the small video camera that was fastened to the body of Nachtwey's still camera. It's almost as if we were leaning near Nachtwey's right ear, watching the subjects that he is photographing while his right index finger moves busily in front of us. This is not quite the same as seeing through his eyes, but it does provide an approximate idea of his perspective, including a certain sense of sympathetic detachment from the people and events he's photographing. The documentary follows Nachtwey to several locations, including Jakarta and Ramallah, and shows him choking on sulfur fumes and tear gas and risking getting shot in the course of his work. With comments from various individuals such as CNN correspondent Christiane Amanpour and magazine editor Hans-Hermann Klare, this documentary provides an interesting perspective on Nachtwey and war photography in general, although some viewers may consider the movie to be a bit slow. It was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature. ~ Todd Kristel, All Movie Guide
Cast
James Nachtwey
Christiane Amanpour
Hans-Hermann Klare
Christiane Breustedt
Des Wright
Denis O'Neill
Credit
Barbara Muller - First Assistant Director, Christian Frei - Director, Christian Frei - Editor, Eleni Karaindrou - Composer (Music Score), Arvo Pärt - Composer (Music Score), David Darling - Composer (Music Score), Peter Indergand - Cinematographer, James Nachtwey - Cinematographer, Christian Frei - Producer, Florian Eidenbenz - Sound/Sound Designer, Martin Witz - Sound/Sound Designer, Ingrid Staedeli - Sound/Sound Designer, Manfred Eicher - Music Producer, Florian Eidenbenz - Supervising Sound Editor
War Photographer is a documentary by Christian Frei about the photographer James Nachtwey. As well as telling the story of an iconic man in the field of war photography, the film addresses the broader scope of ideas common to all those involved in war journalism, as well as the issues that they cover.
One of the main themes of the documentary is the level to which a journalist should become involved in the events that they are there to document. Nachtwey credits the intimacy of his photography to his emphasis on establishing a rapport with his subjects, often despite a significant language barrier. Des Wright, a cameraman with Reuters, describes the problem of being too far removed from what is happening. "[Some journalists] say, 'I'm sorry, I'm a journalist, I'm not a part of this.' And I say, but you are a part of it. I think a lot of people would be quite happy for that man to be killed so they can get the particular picture that they want."
The documentary uses footage filmed with a small "microcam" video camera mounted on Nachtwey's SLR cameras. This technique gives a sense of immediacy to the viewer, showing events from the perspective of the photographer.
