Blood Trail (2008/II)

Director:

Richard Parry

Genre:

Documentary

Plot:

Follows Robert King in his fifteen years as a war photographer. |

Also Known As:

Shooting Robert King (International: English title) (new title)

Runtime:

Canada:79 min (Toronto International Film Festival)

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Company:

Frontline Films

An Interesting Examination of the career of a War Photographer

Blood Trail, which had its US premiere at Austin's SXSW Film Festival, provides a biographical examination of war photographer Robert King's experiences and growth as he spends 15 years covering the world's worst conflicts in Bosnia, Chechnya and Iraq – among other places. It shows his transition from naive novice looking for adventure to a cynical veteran. The film takes us on a complicated journey and shows us some incredibly disturbing pictures along the way. We don't learn that much that is new about the tragic nature of war as much as we learn about what it is like to report on war to a mostly uncaring world.

King is a complex and entertaining figure who seems to be fleeing his own difficult childhood and in some sort of search for meaning. The film is worthwhile, particularly for those interested in understanding media coverage of war. King's growth and development process as he matures is also interesting since we are able witness his increasingly complex relationship with his subjects. The changing nature of war coverage as seen in the last segment on Iraq is enlightening as well since we see the increasing ability of governments to manipulate and control the coverage of war.