THE MOVIE: The Workingman’s Death THE DIRECTOR: Michael Glawogger If you think your job is a bitch, take a gander at “Workingman’s Death,” an art house documentary by Michael Glaw-ogger that vividly showcases some of the most grueling manual labor gigs on the planet. From coal miners digging inside a precarious shaft in the Ukraine to butchers in an open-air slaughterhouse in Nigeria, Glawogger’s film attempts to brutally deconstruct myths of the post-industrial age. High-minded purpose aside, this is not an easy film to sit through. Devoid of commentary, filled with stomach-turning sequences, and set to a surrealistic electro-score by John Zorn, it’s Sprockets meets Upton Sinclair’s “The Jungle.” “Workingman’s Death” is about as unpleasant an expose on the human cost of globalism as you’re likely to ever see. (Not rated. Running time: 122 minutes)
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on March 4, 2006. Read the original PDF.