Arresting. Intimate. Honest.
There is no intervention here, no commentary.
These are the images of a war photographer
who understands that the job is not to judge, to comment,
but merely to capture truth.
War photographers place themselves in harm's way
with no thought of their own safety.
Their job is not to tend to themselves,
but to tend to the right of the oppressed,
to have their stories told.
I've been Avery's editor for 11 years now,
and let me tell you,
though that is not always the most enviable job in publishing...
Avery taggert is the embodiment
of the highest journalistic values.
And so I am proud to present this award
for photojournalist of the year, 1985.
Let's please bring her to the stage-- Avery taggert.
Sorry, um--
I'm not that good at this kind of thing.
This is great.
I mean, it's got my name on it and everything.
Look, the people who really deserve this,
you've just seen in all my photos.
All I do is take pictures, and it's not hard, so--
gonna be toasting. Thank you very much.
What are we toasting to? Your award.
Oh, right. Your incredible, fantastic award.
And to many, many more just like it.
God, I hope not.
Is that false modesty bullshit, or do you mean that?
No, that's pure self-loathing.
And it is far more effective.
Yikes. You accept that?
Sir, may I please have another one of these?
But with, um, twice the alcohol in it.
I've, uh-- I've got something i think you might be,
let's just say, interested, um--
really? Yeah.
One of my guys in bogotá ran into this kid who's telling everyone who would listen
that he's part of a group that's going to liberate Colombia.
Okay. Change the nation.
Uh, free the people, all the revolution bullshit. That's a lot!
Yeah. Hey, look at that. Just in time.
Just in time for a revolution. Thank you, my friend.
Anyways, he's met this great man that's going to lead them all into the jungle
so that they can become missionaries.
Are these missionaries wearing cammies
and carrying automatic rifles, by any chance?
Yes. Bingo.
So, who is this Messiah man?
All I know is his name is Guillermo.
Mmm. Guillermo. Yeah.
Very sexy. Yeah. Sexy name.
These Guillermo types don't usually like to have a journalist around.
But not this fella. He's agreed.
Ah. What do you think of that?
I think I know where you're going with this one. What-- what is this?
What the-- oh. What is that?
What is it? Found this in my pocket.
Oh. It's a ticket. Why would I... With your name...
With my name on it. It's a ticket with my name on it.
Leaving tomorrow.
Yeah, well, they go to the jungle on Tuesday, so I need you to--
did you have plans? Well, I was planning on being still drunk.
You're going to Colombia. Have a coffee.
It's the richest kind.
How else do you expect to win more of these awards?
I didn't even want the first one. Here we go.
I can't wait to see your negatives on this. Yeah.
I think this Guillermo sounds incredibly promising. Yeah, sounds like a good man.
Have a very safe trip. Thank you very much.
Any idea which way the front door is?
This way. Both of them. Yep. Ah. Okay.
- Good night! - Good night, Donald.
You bastard.
It'll cost you. I'm sorry?
My autograph. It'll cost you.
Well, see, i-i just won this very flashy award tonight.
I won this... tonight.
Oh.
Congratulations. Thank you.
I'm thinking of hanging it in the, um-- in the bathroom.
Right above the toilet.
Would you, uh,
like to come see my bathroom?
Ah.
Married. Excuse me.
Yeah.
Good night.
Batting 1.000. Yep.
Cheers to me.
Hey, ave.
Toilet.
Ooh.
A bit messy.
I'd expect nothing less from the estimable Avery taggert.
You can sit
here.
Um,
I wasn't expecting c-company.
Not what it looked like downstairs.
Let me rephrase that.
I wasn't expecting you.
Avery Emma taggert, will you stop?
Relax.
Relax, baby.
Come here.
Hey.
Aren't you even gonna ask what I'm doing here?
What are you doing here? Well, let's see.
I've left you 300 messages that you haven't returned,
not to mention the letters and the faxes.
Apparently I have to book a flight to have a conversation with my wife.
You know how I get when I'm on the move. Things get--
oh, yeah.
I know.
I have an early flight in the morning. Don't do this. Come here.
Just... stop.
Just stop.
I'm not doing anything.
That's what I don't want you to do.
Okay?
I don't want to lose you, ave.
And I know you don't want to lose me either.
Spend tonight with me. No.
Yeah. We'll go to carnivàle and-- and, uh--
we'll make fun of the costumes.
We'll pick up pebbles and we'll Chuck 'em at the banana. Yeah.
You know those big banana fruit tops? Mm-hmm.
And you love chucking pebbles at 'em. Yeah.
And then you always end up hitting them because you have great aim.
You've always had great aim.
Baby.
Just tonight, eh?
Just one night, yeah?
Excuse me, miss Avery. Can I ask you a question?
Well, yeah, you can certainly ask.
Have you-- have you ever been to--
to Disneyland?
Yeah, once or twice.
Actually, three times.
Three times? No.
You've been to Disneyland three times? I have, yes.
Is it-- is it magical, like they say?
I guess that depends on your interpretation of "magical."
Yeah, I want to take my brothers and sisters and--
and to take them and maybe get
one of those, um--
the ears? The ears! Sí.
Sí, sí, sí, sí, the ears.
- How did you get here, Sebastian?
Well, I am from a small village, you know,
and Guillermo brings medicine for the sick
and shows us pictures of the city,
tells us stories of what it feels like to be free.
The ears.
Mmm.
Que rico.
Je voudrais le steak, s'il vous plaît.
Luna, what's our level of supplies?
Okay, okay. Good, good. Next time in English, please, for our guest.
Okay, good, good.
Well, in five kilometers we will reach Alma de cuero
and we will disperse all that.
And we'll stay there the whole night,
and the next morning we'll cross through the jungle.
And we'll go west.
We will reach pueblo Trinidad, which is just a little dirty town,
but a good spot as any to end our journey.
And to make a little reunion with Carlos.
Well, it's not rodin,
but it gets the job done.
Puta!
Sebastian, you are sweet as sugar, but you can't shoot for shit.
Let's go back through all the steps,
so maybe at the end of this journey you can actually hit something.
- I doubt it. - Oh, shut up.
Puta, Tomas.
So, you are looking at the stick man.
You are focusing on the stick man. Stop doing that. Okay?
Trust in yourself.
Line up the front tip
on the target
and let it float there.
And now, line up the front side tip
in the rear aperture.
Okay? One,
two and three.
Just like shooting a picture. Right, miss taggert?
Sure, yeah. Yeah.
So, relax and squeeze.
Relax and squeeze.
Hey.
You know what your problem is, alejo?
You don't think before you shoot.
Maybe that's the reason you walk into the jungle.
Because here you can shoot somebody that you shouldn't back at home, huh?
Or maybe you are just scared of somebody.
Your crazy brother, maybe?
This world is not big enough for the two of you, huh?
Oh, hey, miss taggert! Oh, come here.
Let's take a picture. The two of us.
Yeah, come on. Okay.
Another one?
Sorry.
We've got a professional photographer with a piece-of-crap camera!
How about that?
I want to make a toast, so please, hold your glasses.
We are three days from the end of our journey
and I am a man exploding with pride for the things we have done.
A great squad is like a living thing
with all the parts that keep us breathing.
For example,
Sebastian, you will be the tender heart.
You will face so much evil in your life, and I pray it doesn't corrupt you.
Luna, you will be the conscience.
May you never be harmed, or harm anybody else.
Tomas, mi hermano pequeño.
My-- my flesh and blood.
You are the soul of us, and I thank you for that.
Alejo. Alejo. Alejandro, yeah.
You are--
you are the hammer we hold.
A little crazy, but a good soldier.
Yeah, every squad needs a man like you.
Marianna.
You are a muse.
You are our inspiration.
You show me the way.
Um, who am I
but a pair of boots
to guide you through the mud
and the grime and the rain?
I'm here just to serve you
as you serve the people
when you give them the food and the medicines they need,
when you comfort them in their loneliness,
when you show them the love and respect
the government is not giving to them anymore.
Because we are missionaries!
So raise your glasses, please.
- For justicia! - Justicia!
Just tonight, hmm? Just one night.
Hello?
Oh. Oh! I-i-I'm sorry.
I-I'm sorry. I didn't see anything, i promise.
Cross my heart. Uh--
I'm so sorry.
I may look like a pervert, uh, but I promise I'm not.
Uh, just relax. It's just snuff. You want some?
No. You're clever.
This snuff will kill you, huh?
You get it? Yeah.
You know something funny?
We are, uh, at the end of our journey
and you have learned so much about me,
but I know almost "anything" about you.
Well, then I'm doing my job.
Yeah!
You do your job, yeah. Pretty well.
Have you got everything you needed?
Photographs and pictures?
Well, we'll find out.
This is the first time i let a journalist into our fold.
I know, and I really appreciate it.
Most of the missionaries, they don't like journalists.
They say they're here for the truth,
but, uh, later they don't show the truth.
They show what the governments want them to show.
Well, I'm a woman without government.
A woman without a government.
Yeah. I like it. Yeah.
You will show the truth, right?
The camera sees what it sees.
Nothing less, nothing more.
Yes, but the camera does not point by itself.
A man does it-- uh, or a woman.
Yeah.
People in Spain, they look down
on our brothers and sisters from south America.
Not my case. And that's why I came here.
Uh, when I found my cousin Tomas--
well, I call him a little brother, but he's actually my cousin.
When I found my cousin Tomas, uh, I told him,
let's go through the jungle
to show these people who we are.
On the inside. You know.
These stars have been looking down on this blessed country for the last thousand years,
and they will be looking down for the next thousand.
And what are we to the stars? Nothing.
A speck.
Betancur, he doesn't care about the people in this country.
His election was a fraud. He's-- he's working for the drug cartels.
They are the ones running the show.
Not the government.
And we are here to care for these people.
We are the government.
Is that what your camera sees?
I'm just here to take the pictures.
The pictures. The pictures. The pictures!
You know what? I was an artist. Yeah.
My father, he took me to an art school.
So I made these, uh-- how do you call it? Um--
abstractions?
Um, they didn't like it.
They said I was just making shapes
and...
But as I told them, that-- that--
I paint what I see.
Just like you do with your camera.
You shoot with your camera.
I shoot with my gun.
But, uh, what we point them at, that is who we are.
- Well, I should get some rest. - Oh, yes, of course, of course.
Sorry. Yeah. Go get some rest.
And have sweet dreams.
Seeker of truth.
Good night, Guillermo.
Muy bien.
Eh?
No, no.
Tomas.
This is our fault.
She was a tourist, and we trusted-- I trusted her.
Now we have blood on our hands!
Where is she?
If Guillermo says the journalist killed the boy, she did.
- This is a fortune. - Yeah, and that money-- that dirty money is for us.
But first...
Justicia.
You got her!
Alejo, uh,
I know we had our differences in the past,
but-- but I love you.
I know, i know, I know.
But everything I do, I'm doing for the good of you. For the good of all of you.
Every time I'm hard on you, it's because I'm believing in you. You know that.
You are the best soldier here.
You're better than me, even.
And I feel we are slowing you down
and I don't want you not to do your best.
So go there and do what you do best.
Whoa.
You're not alone.
I'm here with you.
I'm right here.
I know you can hear me.
Fuck!
Oh, fuck. Oh!
Fuck!
You got the wrong idea, girl!
No. No!
Time to play.
No, please.
Please.
Wanna see something?
I got this bullet
compliment from the CIA.
They train me.
Then they send me to kill.
Then they try to kill me.
Here. Right here.
I'm not done with my story.
This one
is from the cartels in medellín.
They make me run some cocaine for them.
But they don't like it when I make my own business.
They shoot me in the back. Twice.
Here.
No. No, no, no, no, no, no.
Come on, come on.
No. No! Come on.
No!
Come. Come.
Guillermo thinks he runs the show.
But I see what he do, trying to run some coke in the jungle.
My fucking jungle!
I run the show. Me!
CIA can't kill me.
The cartel can't kill me.
Guillermo can't kill me!
This fucking white bitch can't kill me!
Shh.
I'm gonna kill you now.
Slow and painful.
With my knife.
Open your beautiful
green eyes.
Open them!
Mine.
Please don't hurt me.
A Kodak moment.
This shit doesn't work.
- Lens cap. - Thank you.
Is this how you do it?
No.
This is how you do it.
Hey, how are you holding up, hijo?
Let me ask you a question.
Have you seen this thing this boy gave me back at the village?
Have you seen this before?
The spiral. Yeah, we speak of it in my village.
Yeah, the boy told me that the spiral is like a path you walk.
- But what is your interpretation? - Bueno.
Le decimos "El camino". The way.
All life is a journey to the center. At the center is truth.
Guillermo!
How is this possible?
How can a man tame a wild dog?
Intellect.
Oh!
Not now, Daniel, please.
Just let me die.
You're putting words in my mouth.
That's not what I said.
Look.
If I follow this river,
I'll be in pueblo Trinidad by morning.
I just need to stay ahead of them.
Avery Emma taggert.
Hiding out, huh?
I suppose it's what you do best.
No!
Let her go.
Fucking Guillermo.
Tell me, does the boss man know you're snorting all his merchandise?
Huh?
Let her go.
You let them go, i let you go. We all live.
You don't let them go...
I hold this fucking trigger down and we all die.
Muertos.
- No!
No?
Sí.
The jungle's got to her and she's crazy now.
And if we are not careful, she will kill us next.
She went there.
So we go there.
How are you gonna come back from something like this?
There's blood on your hands now.
Why are you pretending I'm not here?
I don't have to pretend.
You're not.
Stay right there, Sebastian!
I have no weapons.
Where are the others?
I'm alone, miss Avery.
Bullshit. No.
Look, Guillermo knows that there's been a mistake.
- He-- he wants to make peace. - Guillermo is a psychopath.
No, miss Avery, you have it wrong.
He's good.
He has you confused, Sebastian.
If y-you'd seen the things that I've seen this man do, you'd know he's a good man.
I have seen.
He killed that boy.
No.
He will kill you. No, no.
Look, miss Avery, if you just please trust me and let me talk to you.
Okay? We can fix this.
Come closer.
Closer.
Where are they?
Miss Avery-- where are they, Sebastian?
I'm alone.
Look, he just wants to make peace. Where are they?
He just-- Guillermo!
I swear, he just wants to make peace.
Guillermo! Guillermo, tell her!
Miss Avery, please. Come on.
Guillermo, tell him.
He's not going to shoot, i promise.
- Fuck you.
Oh! Oh, my god! She had a knife! She had a knife!
Kill that bitch! Go get her!
Sebastian!
Sebastian! Sebastian!
Oh, Sebastian.
My beating heart.
Sebastian.
Go on!
Sebastian.
Can you see it? Can you see it?
The spiral?
Can you see the spiral now?
Now you understand, right?
Let me help you.
Guillermo! Gui-- no.
Tomas. Tomas.
Shh.
Can you see it?
Can you see it now?
Hey! Luna.
I can expect this from you, but, Tomas--
mi hermano pequeño.
No! In English.
We're leaving. This is not our fight.
It's not your fight?
Right now, you are breaking my heart in two.
How you do this to your brother? We are not brothers.
We are brothers!
You are not going anywhere, brother.
Yes, we're going, brother.
Okay, i-- I don't understand this situation at all.
Okay? You choose her over me.
Do you know why I came to this land at all? For my own health?
I came here for you, my brother, my flesh and blood.
And now you want to kill your own brother?
For her? F-for love?
Well, I can understand that.
But I am the one who's going to die for love here.
So take the blade. Let me die with the same knife I gave to you!
Tomas!
Don't make me do something that i don't want to, brother.
You will not leave me.
You will never leave me.
You see?
Did you see?
Did you see it?
Luna!
Please.
I was innocent!
I don't care!
You know there are others, right?
What did you say, puta?
Guillermo. You don't possibly think you're the only one?
What about the-- the girl in carta blanca?
You saw how he was looking at her. He wanted her.
You're a puta!
Yeah, there was-- yeah.
There was definitely a girl in morato.
Huh?
Yeah, she was pretty. No.
Young.
Mm-hmm. Turn up a piece of ass in gaviotas.
Piece of ass, ticuna.
He loves only me.
There's one I know for sure.
You wanna know why?
It was me.
No!
Guillermo.
Mi amor.
Last time i heard that story, i got shot.
Marianna.
No!
- They're coming. - They're coming.
Sorry.
Okay. Down.
Okay. Okay.
Thank you.
I know him since we are children.
Following me around everywhere
with that crooked little smile.
Every time I looked back, there is Tomas.
I never got to tell him.
I lost my husband, Daniel.
I'm sorry. Was it long ago?
Yeah. We were--
we were separated at the time.
I hadn't spoken to him--
fuck, I hadn't spoken to him for months.
He surprised me one time, in rio.
Ah, he used to do that sort of thing all the time.
Just show up wherever in the world i was for work.
He caught me on a good night.
He took me out.
We went to the carnivàle.
I had just-- i just got my-- my camera.
It was brand-new, and i--
I took a lot of photos.
I took a whole roll that night.
I never got it developed, but I can remember...
Every frame I took.
This--
this is the last time I saw him.
You need fresh water. Yeah.
I hear a stream. I will fill my canteen.
Thank you.
Back in a flash?
Thank you.
Back in a flash.
Hello, miss taggert!
¡La periodista!
Don't worry about Luna. I found her.
I found your little duck.
You stand in judgment of me.
Well, let me tell you something about this guy you stand in judgment of.
Avery!
Do you know what's at the bottom of the spiral?
Because you're almost there.
Me too, maybe.
So, you see El guero selling this big bag of cocaine.
And later you see El guero slicing the throat of this little kid
and-- and-- and you take pictures.
And this sounds like a pulitzer prize, ladies and gentlemen.
Well, miss taggert, I'm a leader.
I'm a missionary.
I change lives.
There was this little boy
in the village of navarrete.
And he was pretty sick.
Yellow fever.
A nasty thing.
And they couldn't fix him.
And I realize
this boy can't stop loving my watch.
And you know what I did?
I gave it to him.
And I see his face shining so bright.
And i-- and I think to myself, well, I did something right.
Two weeks later, i am back in navarrete,
and the boy is fully recovered.
They say it's because of me and my watch.
The watch made the boy become well.
Well,
what does this story tell you, miss taggert?
This boy,
I save his life.
This other boy,
I take it away.
But coming from me,
all things are the same gift.
I can tell you what the spiral means.
The spiral is death.
You push yourself as far as you can go.
Not fearing death.
Chasing it.
And at the very end,
at that single, intimate, solitary moment...
You know yourself.
For real.
I envy you, miss taggert.
You are so close.
That Juan.
You think I did something evil to him?
I didn't do anything evil to Juan
or-- or Luna
or Sebastian
or Tomas.
I gave them the same gift
that I'm about to give to you!
Miss taggert!
Where are you?
Show yourself!
Where is your squad?
Gringa.
You're alejo.
And you're a ghost.
I killed you.
You're dead. They're all dead.
Where is the fucking squad?
You know who I am?
You're the brother. No.
- Now you see, miss taggert? - It's that simple.
Relax and squeeze.
Seems like when it comes to killing this family,
we-- we have become a good team.
Where are the photographs?
Come on. Where are they?
No!
Don't.
No, please.
No.
So much for the pulitzer prize.
Miss taggert.
Adiós.
Hola.
Hey.
Hey!
So--
you're sure? I don't mean about the nut. I mean about all of this.
You're really sure?
I am really, x, really sure.
You're really sure?
Donald, I am really, really certain.
Contender for a pulitzer prize.
Look, if I win it, you can hang it in your bathroom.
That's terrific. Yeah.
What the hell are you even gonna do?
What do you do when you're not working?
That's what i wanna know.
Well, I bought a new car.
And I figure I'll do some driving,
check out this fair nation of yours.
And not take a single, solitary photo.
That's the plan.
Well, it sounds like a wonderful life.
Does to me.
Good luck.
Thank you, Donald.
Need some help lifting that purse?
Adios.
And, Avery, just remember,
there's an awful lot of work here when you're ready.
That might be a while, Donald.
You go easy on those nuts.