Biography of Robert Capa, Famous War Photographer, Set for the Big Screen

Soldier taking cover at Omaha Beach on D-Day, June 6th 1944 – Photo: Robert Capa

In the 20th century, there were few photojournalists who were able to capture the honor, violence and horror of war as thoroughly as Robert Capa. In his short life, Capa covered five separate wars: the Spanish Civil War, the Second Sino-Japanese War, World War II, the 1948 Arab-Israeli War and the First Indochina War. As a combat photographer, Capa’s working days were spent everywhere from the front lines of the Normandy Invasion in 1944 (above) to the mine-ridden jungles of Vietnam. His indomitable courage in the line of fire, all in the name of capturing a story, set the standard for war journalism to come.

Now, 55 years after his death in battle, Capa’s story will finally come alive on the big screen. The film, produced by Columbia Pictures, will be directed by Michael Mann and will be based on the Spanish-language novel, Waiting for Robert Capa by Susana Fortes.

The story follows Capa’s early days as a refugee from Hungary in 1935, and through his relationship with fellow photographer, Gerda Taro, an escapee from Nazi Germany. The two fall in love and find themselves on the front lines of a brutal and bloody battle, eager to protect each other yet also striving to capture the individual stories of war.

News of the film comes at an extraordinary time for Capa scholarship. Recently one of his most famous photographs, of a Spanish Loyalist soldier in the split second after being shot, has fallen under intense speculation after a handful of critics questioned its authenticity. Also, over 4,000 never-before-seen photographs taken by Capa and Taro during the Spanish Civil War were recently discovered in a couple of suitcases. They will be shown at Manhattan’s International Center of Photography next fall.