Audio-Visual Review: Shipbreakers. Directed by Michael Kot. New York: Cinema Guild, 2004. DVD/42 minutes; Workingman’s Death: 5 Portraits of Work in the 21st Century. Directed by Michael Glawogger. New York: Cinema Guild, 2005. DVD/122 minutes
Abstract
Audio-Visual Review Shipbreakers. Directed by Michael Kot. New York: Cinema Guild, 2004. DVD/42 minutes Workingman’s Death: 5 Portraits of Work in the 21st Century. Directed by Michael Glawogger. New York: Cinema Guild, 2005. DVD/122 minutes SAGE Publications, Inc. 201010.1177/0160449X08326627 © 2010 UALE UALE EllenDannin Dickinson School of Law, Pennsylvania State University These two films about contemporary global workplaces might first appear to have little in common other than the common description of “shipbreaking,” the industry in which defunct oceangoing vessels are physically broken down for recycling and waste. However, both films reveal the difficulties and dangers of contemporary work, as well as the indomitability of the human spirit and how workers gracefully create community and support for one another amidst danger and degrading work. Both films present themes of first- and third-world relations, most explicitly in the shipbreaking business, which has moved to the third world to avoid environmental and safety regulations. Early on in Shipbreakers we see a sign from management that says “Safety Is Our Motto,” but in both films it is obvious that workers try to work safely but often lack the information and means to do so. The structures of first- and third-world relations