The cold comes up and there’s nothing better than coming home from work or waiting for the weekend to see a good movie under the sheets, right?Reflecting, this month we’re going to make a special of the best photography films ever released. let’s talk a little bit about the American film Under Fire Cerrado, directed by Roger Spottiswoode.
The criticism of photojournalists in various sectors of today’s society is scathing: they are generally regarded as cold people, without social commitment and who want to take advantage of the misfortunes of others, they may have this image because of the spectacular or intense reproduction of the images.
- How far does the limit of photojournalism go?Is there a limit ?.
- Is the veracity of information above a people’s struggle for freedom ?.
- All these questions are addressed in the film Sob Fogo Cerrado.
- Which takes place in Nicaragua.
- Which despite its previous release in 1983.
- Remains extremely topical.
- Since history.
- Mixture of politics.
- Ethics and love.
- Topics widely discussed today.
Love and politics aside, the highlight of the film is the moment when the photographer’s ethics are tested: a photojournalist takes a photograph of a dead rebel leader, but as if he were still alive, to show the world that the government was losing the war and thus preventing further bloodshed.
In this case, the manipulation of the photojournalist was for a good cause: helping the population get rid of a corrupt and violent president. The photojournalism function seems easy, reporting a news story through the image. But, as seen in the film, the professional transcends his activity to help the other, even having to distort a fact.
In addition, humanists accuse photojournalists of making a living recording other people’s moments, many of these moments being of sadness, suffering, death; as an intermediary, the photojournalist inevitably becomes complicit in the recorded facts; professionally, your role is just to record the fact. . However, it is commendable that the photojournalist becomes involved when his participation is recognized as important, necessary.
Sob Fogo Cerrado is interesting in the sense of discussing these topics with a lot of action and a good dose of drama, which makes it attractive. If photojournalism is currently at a “crossroads,” much is due to the form of current journalistic photography: often simply illustrative, with some elements that can make it “dramatic,” but without necessarily being in a dramatic environment, such as a war, for example.
The informational value, if necessary for photojournalism, is lost every day. It’s an empty aesthetic. ” It’s touching, but it doesn’t report,” as one prominent expert on the subject once said, Simonetta Persichetti. Once, perhaps, Under Fogo Cerrado is so essential for any photographer: from amateur to professional.
Sheet
Original title: Under Fire (1983)
Based on the work of Clayton Frohman
Address: Roger Spottiswoode
Writer: Clayton Frohman, Ron Shelton
Soundtrack: Jerry Goldsmith
Cast: Nick Nolte, Gene Hackman, Joanna Cassidy, Ed Harris