Werner Herzog's disaster movie.
Arriving in an unnamed South American country to report on a man-made disaster, three UN scientists find themselves abducted by masked gunmen. The reason isn’t clear, but in an even more bizarre turn of events, the UN team’s outspoken leader (Veronica Ferres) then gets taken to a giant salt flat and stranded there with two blind boys.
Strange eco-thriller Salt and Fire from legendary director Werner Herzog is a major disappointment. True, there are some stunning images when we eventually reach the salt flats (the real Salar de Uyuni in Bolivia), more than half way through the film. But before then there are reams of quasi-philosophical guff about ecology, prophecy and anamorphic art to endure.
Most unforgivably, Herzog’s clunky direction makes even the great Michael Shannon – playing the eccentric corporate chief behind the kidnapping – look like a bad actor. In a mercifully brief role as one of the kidnapped scientists, Gael García Bernal appears even worse. Forget about the story’s environmental catastrophe, the film is the real disaster.
Certificate 12A. Runtime 96 mins. Director Werner Herzog
Salt and Fire debuts on Sky Cinema Premiere on Monday 7 August. Available on DVD from Matchbox Films.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ud3deu1troU
