Brett Storey and Stephen Mayne like to emphasize the scale of the multinational corporations that union labor organizations confront by using images of the vast institutions that make their operations possible. In the opening shot of the documentary, which they co-directed, a container ship crept into the frame loaded with cargo, some of which will be delivered to the massive Staten Island warehouse where the film is set. When we first see this building, it rises out of the darkness like a dystopian landmark, the smiling Joker with the Amazon logo illuminated on its side. The glimpses we get of the interior, some of which were secretly filmed by Amazon workers union members, are similarly dark, with workers hunched over conveyor belts in vast spaces lit by fluorescent lights. It’s a thing. The film returns multiple times to shots of shelves in empty rooms appearing to be moved mechanically. At one point in the unionization fight, the ALU team projects the following message: You are not disposable. You are a human being,” it says on the side of the property. It’s clear that the company, with its staggering turnover rate and algorithmically determined conditions, would prefer its employees not to do so, but until technology allows full automation, it will instead I intend to treat it as a component.
“Union” is unusual: a documentary that takes an artistic, observational approach, but whose focus is decidedly political. The idea that documents should function as utilitarian messages, always displaying statistics on screen to have an impact, and should be shaped into the form of frank discussion has become so entrenched that non-fiction has become a vital part of life. Film production that has sucked up the department. Union’s very existence is proof that he trusts his subjects to convey the film with their actions and personalities, and that visuals have the ability to convey meaning as eloquently as a set of title cards. Story’s glorious final film, The Hottest August, a journey through random interviews around New York City during the record-setting late summer of 2017, is wry, observational, and utterly haunting. It was an apocalyptic document. The Union has a more overt narrative, but retains some of its serious sense of austerity. In one shot of cargo ships moving around like miniature continents, carrying vast amounts of goods from across the ocean, one ship can be seen passing in front of another, with a ship in the background bearing the words “Capital.” You can see that it is named. ” It’s a detail that would be a shame not to include, but it’s also on-the-nose enough to work as a very dry joke.
Union isn’t a movie with a lot of humor, but there’s a sense of camaraderie that sustains its subjects through a grueling job. Their leader is Chris Smalls, a father of three who started organizing after being fired from Amazon for protesting the lack of coronavirus protection for employees. He spends much of the film camping outside JFK8, the warehouse where he once worked, grilling food and talking to the workers who stopped by about what they could gain by coming together. There is. Chris and his colleagues are a team of former and current Amazon employees, as well as professional organizers who have joined specifically to support union efforts, and are starting an entirely new union from scratch. Forced to do things in the most difficult way (ALU has since partnered with the Teamsters). The face of their fight, Chris, has become a “low-key celebrity,” as one worker observes when he first meets him, but as the film progresses we learn how devoted and charming he is. You can tell if it’s a person. His impatience too. He and his colleagues have learned a lot, but are still figuring things out as they go along. Through Zoom conversations and in-person gatherings, we watch them plan, encourage, and compete among themselves under mounting pressure.
The pressure is intense, and Union, which opens in spring 2021, boils down to a modern-day techno-thriller in which the underdog take on a monolithic corporation. There, ALU members interrupt a forced union-busting meeting to propose rebuttals to the presentation, and in doing so gradually win over disgruntled attendees who were initially hostile to their presence. It contains some amazing moments of communication. But the film also shows how exhausting the work is, and how exhausting the fight is for the various volunteers. One of them had been living in her car for three years, and the other was assaulted and arrested by police. The union was an incredible victory for the labor movement, but we were too smart to stop at just reporting victories, and instead learned that the most profound tools that companies like Amazon have are their ability to stall. Keep reminding me that. Still, there are people like these filmmakers who are trying to bring the world’s attention to their actions. While filming ALU volunteers struggling to pitch tents in the howling winds, there was a moment when a woman appeared to be in trouble and the filmmakers ran over to ask if she needed help. Union may be a realistic film, but it never lets us forget the humanity of everyone in front of and behind the camera.
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