WORKINGMAN'S DEATH

From the Ukraine to Indonesia, passing through Nigeria, China and Pakistan: Michael Glawogger takes his camera to the four corners of the world in order to explore the most dangerous jobs at the beginning of this new century. Made up of five parts, Workingmans Death follows firstly the work of Ukrainian miners in Donbass. Once renowned as heroes for Soviet propaganda, these men and women now crawl in derelict tunnels in search of coal. But their Indonesian counterparts would envy them, their fate is to bend for hours beneath the burden of baskets of sulphur, part of their route past the enquiring gaze of tourists. As for the Nigerian slaughtermen in Port Harcourt, they bathe in rivers of blood to earn a crust with dignity. Also facing risk of death are the Chinese steelworkers on Anshan as are the Pakistanis of Gaddani who cut up super-tankers at vertiginous heights to recuperate the metal. Filmed up close and personal and almost in perpetual motion, by the exceptional Wolfgang Thaler in the most difficult conditions, the documentary by Michael Glawogger succeeds in creating respectful portraits of these workers, almost galley slaves, who nonetheless keep a will to live and a great solidarity. (Fabien Lemercier)