Blue Collar (film)
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | Blue collar (alternatively: fight on the assembly line) |
| Original title | Blue collar |
| Country of production | United States |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 1978 |
| length | 114 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 16 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Paul Schrader |
| script | Paul Schrader, Leonard Schrader |
| production | Don Guest |
| music | Jack Nitzsche |
| camera | Bobby Byrne |
| cut | Tom Rolf |
| occupation | |
| |
Blue Collar is a 1978 film that takes a critical look at union work and the lives of workers.
action
The three assembly line workers ( Blue Collar ) Jerry, Zeke [ziːk] and Smokey are employed in an automobile factory in Detroit / Michigan . They can only finance their lives by taking out loans. In order to be able to pay off the loans, they have to take up part-time jobs in addition to the hard assembly line work. They are dissatisfied with their living and working conditions, with their bad treatment and with their union. The only goal of the union seems to be their officials to provide amenities.
Zeke took the long-defective lock on his clothes locker to complain to union chairman Eddie Johnson about the union representative at the plant, Clarence Hill. He only does something in the affairs of the white workers, he does not stand up for the black workers at all. Zeke noticed a weakly secured vault in the union building. During a drug party, Zeke, Jerry and Smokey make the first plans to "wipe out" the union.
The financial situation of the three men comes to a head: Jerry's daughter needs braces - she injures herself trying to make braces for herself. Zeke reported to the tax office that he had six children instead of his three and withheld a part-time job - he had to pay $ 2,500. Smokey has a loan shark on his neck that he owes $ 1,000.
The three friends break into the union building. Zeke expects to find between five and six thousand dollars. In fact, they only steal $ 600 from the postage and a notebook: the union uses the membership dues on illegal loans at usurious interest rates . The union initially reported the cash that had disappeared to the press at $ 10,000. After Smokey decides to blackmail the union for exactly that amount with the stolen list, the insurance loss is quickly increased to $ 20,000.
Smokey: “They incite the boys for a lifetime. The young against the old. The blacks against the whites. They do everything to ensure that we are suppressed. "
The police find out the names of the three intruders, the names somehow get to the union. Their boss Eddie Johnson knows exactly what to do: Jerry is a union member and just needs to be put under pressure. Zeke is ambitious and would like to be a controller instead of a simple worker. Smokey has been to jail twice and is dangerous.
Accordingly, Jerry is being persecuted and his family is threatened. Zeke becomes a union representative in place of the relocated Clarence Hill in exchange for returning the notebook to the union. Smokey is suffocated in a paint box. This is dismissed as an accident at work, which is why the foreman is dismissed. Zeke offers Jerry this post if it is over. Jerry refuses, however, and now turns to the police.
When Jerry goes back to the factory, accompanied by the police, Zeke's new position as union representative has completely changed both his attitudes and clothes. The two previous friends attack each other.
Reviews
- TV feature film : “After much-praised scripts such as“ Yakuza ”for Sidney Pollack and“ Taxi Driver ”for Martin Scorsese, Paul Schrader made an impressive directorial debut with“ Blue Collar ”. The oppressive, hard story between honest work and murderous corruption is considered a masterpiece of New Hollywood cinema. "
- Kölner Stadtanzeiger : “With his directorial debut“ Blue Collar - Fight on the Conveyor Belt ”Paul Schrader created a relentlessly realistic social thriller. He not only directed, but also wrote the script with his brother Leonard. Particularly convincing: Richard Pryor, who died in 2005, as Zeke Brown, who played one of the best roles of his film career here. "
- Lexicon of international film : "[...] politically credible, sober, brilliantly staged, photographed and acted."
Web links
- Blue Collar in the Internet Movie Database (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ TV feature film
- ↑ Kölner Stadtanzeiger
- ↑ Blue Collar. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 2, 2017 .