The great maker
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | The great maker |
| Original title | The Big One |
| Country of production | United States |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 1997 |
| length | approx. 95 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 12 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Michael Moore |
| script | Michael Moore |
| production | Dog Eat Dog Films , Miramax |
| music | The World Famous Blue Jays |
| camera | Brian Danitz , Chris Smith |
| cut | Meg Reticker |
| occupation | |
| |
The big maker (original title: The Big One ) is a documentary film by the US filmmaker Michael Moore from 1997. The film accompanies Moore on the reading tour to promote his book Cross Shots .
action
Greed for profit
Moore decided not to make the trip through the most important cities in the USA, such as New York City , Los Angeles or Chicago , but to visit smaller cities. During his trip, Moore makes terrifying discoveries that seem straight out of a “school book for capitalism ”. For example, he learns that the workers at the confectionery manufacturer "PayDay" lost their jobs precisely because they were too productive and the company had made enough profit to move abroad. He visits PayDay workers in Centralia, Illinois who are about to be laid off. They tell him that some have worked for the company for 50 years and that they had not joined a union and never went on strike. Another stop is at a large bookstore in Rockford, Illinois , a city that has ranked as one of the most unworthy cities in the United States. In Des Moines , Iowa , he attends a conspiratorial meeting of company employees who simply want to set up a works council. During his further trip, he shows other examples of companies that are relocating their jobs abroad or employing prisoners in order to save personnel costs. The election campaign for the presidential election in the United States in 1996 is mentioned occasionally, and both Moore and the interviewees say that there is actually little difference between the two parties. Finally, the election recorded a new record of non-voters . Moore also visits the headquarters of Johnson Controls , which has moved parts of its production to Mexico despite rising profits. He then visits Manpower in Milwaukee , a company in the temporary employment industry that has experienced rapid growth due to permanent layoffs in the USA. In the capital of the US state of Wisconsin , Madison , Moore talks to a representative for Governor Tommy Thompson , whom he confronts with unemployed people who claim to have already completed a number of training courses and who still cannot find a job. In Cincinnati , Moore visited Procter & Gamble , a company that had also laid off workers en masse despite making substantial profits.
Moors vs. Knight
The highlight is the conversation, very reminiscent of Moore's earlier film “ Roger & Me, ” between Michael Moore and Nike CEO Phil Knight in Portland, Oregon, about moving jobs abroad. Phil Knight says he has never visited Nike's factories in Indonesia, but that the trade is also having a positive impact on the country. Knight claims that nobody in the USA wants to sew shoes anymore, but that he would think about setting up new plants in the USA if enough people were willing to work. Moore then presented him with hundreds of people in Moore's hometown of Flint, Michigan , who would immediately take on this exact job at Nike. Flint has become a deeply impoverished city with the decline of the US auto industry. Nevertheless, Knight does not give in and in the end Moore and Knight agree on a donation for a good cause. Nike had previously outsourced a large part of its production to Indonesia , where some of the shoes are made by children (aged 14 and over) for 19 US cents an hour.
style
The travelogues are repeatedly interrupted by speeches from Moore, which have a mixture of serious denouncing and stand-up comedy. The film begins with reporting about sending checks to politicians to see if they would cash them. He founded the donor organization himself. These include the pedophiles for free trade or the devil worshipers for Dole or the cannabis growers. Robert Dole , Pat Buchanan, and Bill Clinton cashed these checks. Moore usually defends himself against circumstances with sarcasm. If it were all about profit, he suggests that General Motors should sell crack because the profit margin there is higher than when selling cars. He also announces that with the incompetence of GM managers, there will soon be no more crack. Moore also suspects that there is a concept behind the employment of convicts (e.g. through TWA ): You release people, some get on the wrong track, end up in prison and there you can get them back for yourself for a tenth of your wages let work. When Conservative Congressman Bob Dornan, after losing his election, complained that illegal immigrants had elected his opponent Loretta Sanchez , Moore filed a complaint with the polling station, arguing that the voters who voted Dornan were insane be. Moore mentions at more serious moments that the US Constitution speaks of the people , not shareholders . In a radio interview with Studs Terkel he also explains why he said in the book Downsize this! (Cross shots!) Juxtaposed a picture of the Murrah Federal Building devastated by a terrorist attack with a picture of a demolished building in Detroit. Throwing unemployed people out of their houses and blowing up their houses in front of their eyes was what he called economic terrorism . Moore ends the film with the words one evil empire down, one to go .
Origin of the title
The title of the film goes back to a radio interview in which Moore suggests renaming the USA to "The Big One" , as this name reflects the true size and power of America and also sounds more impressive and intimidating than "United States of America" . After all, Great Britain does not call itself “a few provinces on one island” .
Reviews
An evaluation of 37 film reviews resulted in a positive rating of 92% on rotten tomatoes .
Awards and nominations
- Aspen Filmfest 1997: Audience Award for Best Documentary
- Boston Society of Film Critics Awards 1998: for best documentary
- Denver International Film Festival 1997: Audience Award for Best Documentary
- 1998 Kansas City Film Critics Circle Awards : for best documentary
- Online Film & Television Association 1999: for best documentary (together with Jean Doumanian for Wild Man Blues)
- Online Film Critics Society Awards 1999: for best documentary
Web links
- The big makers in the Internet Movie Database (English)