Love+War
Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin’s exceptionally fine documentary examines the world of the photojournalist Lynsey Addario as she juggles the horrors of Ukraine with her life as a mother back in London.
Image courtesy of Dogwoof Releasing.
This is the latest film from the noted directors Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin who are probably best known for 2018’s Free Solo which was the second feature that they made together. That it centred on the rock climber Alex Honnold was no coincidence since Chin was himself already an established mountaineer with skills well suited to filming this subject. Furthermore, their first work together had been Meru (2015), a film about mountaineering endeavours in the Himalayas in 2011. In 2023 they moved into fresh territory with the docudrama Nyad starring Jodie Foster and Annette Benning but their output is centred on documentaries and over the last ten years they have confirmed that their talents in this sphere are in no way limited to films centred on climbing. Their range has extended from The Rescue (2021), shot in Thailand and dealing with twelve boys and their coach trapped in a flooded cave, to Endurance (2024), a film about the recovery of Shackleton’s ship.
Now with Love+War they again give us something very different since this is a portrait of the war photographer Lynsey Addario who, although American, lives in London with her husband, the former Reuters journalist Paul de Bendern. As the title suggests, this is a documentary which gives equal weight to her life as a wife and mother and to the remarkable work that she has done in war zones around the world. It's that blend which distinguishes Love+War from most other documentaries that have been made about war photographers such as the one about Don McCullin. Since the filming was done recently, it is hardly surprising that the war in Ukraine features strongly and that it is this which provides the opening scenes. This particular footage was taken in 2022 and we immediately become aware of the quality of the images taken by Addario herself (she regularly favours taking pictures in colour rather than black-and-white). At the same time, we also appreciate the vivid impact of the film’s own images of Ukraine (the main photography here is by Thorsten Thielow, but we see also the work of the Ukrainian journalist and photographer Andriy Dubchak who is in addition one of those who appear in the film).
This opening material seen on the wide screen is impressive indeed, but even so one cannot but be aware that the tragic conditions in Ukraine have become sadly familiar to us in recent times. Consequently, one welcomes the extent to which Love+War chooses to portrays the personal life of Lynsey Addario. Although the introductory scenes seen ahead of the title are all about Ukraine, immediately thereafter we find ourselves in London. Here we see Lynsey at home with Paul and with their children, Lukas aged ten and Alfred aged three. Before long we meet too Lynsey's parents and subsequently her three older sisters (she was the youngest of four siblings). It is, of course, apparent just how difficult it is for a woman to maintain such a hazardous career and to be a good mother. Even to find a husband prepared to accept a wife strongly devoted to a highly dangerous career and understanding enough not to hold her back must have seemed unlikely to Lynsey. However, the situation changed when she met Paul who being a journalist himself proved ready to accept this. Indeed, he was the one who encouraged the idea that they should have children.
Love+War is a remarkable portrait of a woman of great strength whose work represents not just a favoured job but a mission in life. This film looks back into her family history and suggests how her childhood experiences may have given her the resolve and determination that now appear to be inbuilt. At the same time this is a very honest portrait which acknowledges the cost of her way of life to her husband, to her relatives and not least to her young children. This conflict is brought home to us by her own admission when, acknowledging that she can never feel fully satisfied whether at home or on an assignment, she declares “My head is always where I'm not!”
For over twenty years she has taken photographs for major American sources including The New York Times and is now in her early fifties. The film’s approach to her career is to interpolate examples of her past work experiences consisting of footage from such countries as Iraq, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Libya. Although this is not presented in chronological order, the introduction of this material is always aptly judged and adds to the variety within the film. In addition, we are given various contributions from close colleagues and others. Given that Ukraine has pride of place amongst the war footage, it is again well judged to make this the one setting in which the film builds up a further individual portrait. This is of the 30-year-old former teacher Yulia Bondarenko who became a volunteer ready to fight for her country and who is seen more than once in this film.
Although there have been other notable photojournalists drawn to reporting on wars including some who have been women, this work nevertheless remains for the most part a male preserve. That makes the achievements of Lynsey Addario all the more special. This film covers also such side issues as her concerns over women's rights and, late on, it records the anguish when she and three colleagues from The New York Times were seized in Libya by armed soldiers supporting Gaddafi. That was in 2011 when for three days their fate was unknown and consequently a time of dread for all those close to Lynsey. But, whatever the price inherent in it, Lyndsey recognises that her mission is not only her life but also a responsibility that she accepts because capturing history through her camera is a way of ensuring that truth is recognised. Love+War is a revealing in-depth portrait of this exceptional woman carried out with the assurance and keen judgment that the subject undoubtedly deserves.
MANSEL STIMPSON
Featuring Lynsey Addario, Paul de Bendern, Yulia Bondarenko, Andriy Dubchak, Alfred de Bendern, Lukas de Bendern, Camille Addario, Lisa Addario, Lesley Bentivegna, Lauren Addario, Phillip Addario, Alice Gabriner, Dexter Filkins, Steve P. Bungay, Meaghan Looram, Michael Schwirtz, Kathy Ryan, Colonel Daniel P. Kearney, Bruce Chapman, Serhiy Perebyinis, Katie Couric.
Dir Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin, Pro Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi, Jimmy Chin, Shannon Dill and Anna Barnes, Ph Thorsten Thielow and Andriy Dubchak, Ed Keiko Deguchi and Hypatia Porter, Music Claudia Sarne.
National Geographic Documentary Films/Little Master Films-Dogwoof Releasing.
95 mins. USA/UK. 2025. UK Rel: 24 October 2025. Cert. 15.
