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Michael Mann is once again heading into the halls of history, but this time around it’s about those who document the violence rather than those who deliver it. Variety](http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118009539.html?categoryid=13&cs=1&nid=2562) reports that Mann and Columbia Pictures are joining forces to tell the story of war photographer Robert Capa and his romance with fellow photographer Gerda Taro.
The good news: This isn’t simply another story where an artist’s achievements are reduced to their time between the sheets. To be adapted from Susan Fortes’ *Waiting for Robert Capa (by scribe Jez Butterworth), the film will kick off when Capa (a refugee from fascist Hungary whose professional name was inspired by Frank Capra) meets a Jewish refugee from Nazi Germany – Gerda Taro (a name partly inspired by Greta Garbo). She becomes his assistant, learns photography, and the two fall in love. A year later, the Spanish Civil War begins, setting Capa up as “the most renowned war photographer ever” while Taro becomes the first front-line female war photographer. The romance and success for Taro, however, was short-lived. She was killed only a year later during the Battle of Brunete.
This is a big passion project of Mann’s, and he “intends to make a gritty, low-budget film” out of the story. So thankfully, this won’t be a perfectly shot, epic romance of thundering scores and picturesque scenes of couples kissing. And it might be premature, but I’ve got to say – Capa looks a whole lot like actor Saleh Bakri.
*Including swimming to the shores of Omaha Beach with the troops on D-Day.