I don’t usually write list-based posts, but I enjoy reading them so I suppose it can’t hurt to write one every so often. I learn a lot from books, but over the course of my lifetime it’s usually films that change my mind and make me think about things differently. Films begin as a very serious form of writing too, but in the collaborative production process they take on another dimension. They gain mythic and symbolic resonance and become cultural, historical touchstones. I’ve been struggling to re-frame my attitudes about work lately, and my thoughts have returned to classic movies that presented enlightened, unusual views of working. Here are six of my favorites. I’m listing them in the order they came into the world, not the order in which I first saw them. Thinking about each of these stories has helped me to look at work in non-traditional ways.
À nous la liberté (1931)
The title, in French idiom, means “Freedom for Us”. This is an early film by the most whimsical filmmaker I know of, René Clair. It’s soulful and funny without being sentimental. Two men become pals in prison, one escapes and becomes a rich industrialist, they reunite after the second man is released and the comrades decide that freedom and friendship is more important than material success. There are hilarious assembly-line scenes that were ripped-off by Chaplin five years later for Modern Times, and it’s also the source of the I Love Lucy episode about the candy factory. I can’t think of another writer-director who could illustrate the dehumanizing effect caused by factory work, and the corrupting influence of wealth upon character, and make it all come out light, tuneful and uplifting.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fKlZ3KL3ONg&NR=1
Our Daily Bread (1934) was an independent project directed by King Vidor during the middle of the Great Depression. In the film, a group of displaced unemployed band together for survival by trying to create a self-sustaining community farm. The novice farmers, once crushed by economic forces beyond their control, become self-motivated by their own free, innovative, cooperative spirit. Initially they try collectivization, but it doesn’t work because it destroys incentive. So they try extreme Capitalism, but that also doesn’t work because it results in excessive selfishness. They finally employ a combination of cooperative principles, free enterprise and freedom of choice in order to save their crop from drought. That’s the American way. The (literal) last-ditch effort to get water from miles away includes some of the most exciting montage sequences ever filmed.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PHdm2ZdviFU&feature=related
How Green Was My Valley won the Best Picture Oscar of 1941, as well as a Best Director award for the incomparable John Ford. As with the first example on the list, it takes a great artist to be able to present such tragedy and make it feel nostalgic and romantic. A lot of terrific singing in Welsh doesn’t hurt either. The depletion of the coal mine that has been the lifeblood of a village causes the breakup of a close-knit family and the death of their beloved patriarch, but the story is recalled in the fond memories of the youngest member, an academically gifted boy who gives up the chance for scholarship to join his elders in the mine. Keep your tissues close by.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uRtjQHTnKVY&feature=related
It’s a Wonderful Life (1946) is Charles Dickens’ Christmas Carol, if you make Bob Cratchit the one in need of redemption by spirits. George Bailey spends his whole life working altruistically in service to others until, in a crisis, he regrets being born. A second-class angel named Clarence is given the job of renewing George’s faith in living. This independent production by director Frank Capra flopped in its initial release. Because the copyright wasn’t renewed the film became public domain, so it was cheap to broadcast. The repeat viewings caused a re-evaluation of the movie’s importance and now it’s a favorite Christmas perennial. Bert and Ernie of Sesame Street are named for the cop and taxi driver pals in this film.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O4ne13Zft9Q&feature=related
Ikiru (1952) by Akira Kurosawa. Though he made several masterpieces featuring stories of service and self-sacrifice including Seven Samurai, this one about a dying beaurocrat determined to live long enough to create a small park for children is his most courageous. The hero’s grim determination to finish the task helps him achieve a final sense of peace and acceptance at the end of his life.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_mLrLHDdXHI&feature=related
Some believe that Lilies of the Field (1963) is about race because the hero is Black, but the story would work the same way with an underclass protagonist of any color or culture. The real theme of the movie is about how the performance of charitable labor ennobles a talented worker who is given his first chance to lead by a destitute group of foreign nuns. They believe he was sent by God to help them build a chapel for their poor, rural community. Director Ralph Nelson was the father of Ted Nelson, who first imagined and wrote about hypertext, text displayed on computers that contains links to pictures and other areas on a network in cyberspace. You’re using it now.
Invisible Mikey 
Mikey,
The great thing about this post is that with the exception of Capra’s classic, I have seen none of these films. I’m currently working through the AFI’s 100-best-ever-made films (1998 and 2007 lists, and they’re different), so it may be a while before I get to these, but they all seem very tantalizing.
I too am struggling to come to grips with what work means in my life, but I wouldn’t say “lately”. My quest to incorporate work that returns benefit to the body and soul and mind has been going on for a while now (some of my thoughts are documented here: http://bythedarkofthemoon.wordpress.com/2009/06/16/resistance-may-be-futile-but-its-dashed-hard-to-come-by-too/ …I don’t normally plug my blog but I think you in particular might enjoy that one and may even have valuable feedback). I’m not sure we’re seeking the same thing out of work, but I know money is not your main motivation. I could chew on this topic for hours. And like you, I get some of my most clear inspiration from films, even though I’m a great lover of books. Great post. And if you hadn’t mentioned it I would not have even noticed that it was a list.
I’m delighted to introduce you to some fine film classics, Matt, and I will certainly drop by to read your thoughts about work. I’m a complete sucker for “best” lists, even though most of them, like this, are merely one’s favorites.
I love the little facts intersperesed among these descriptions, plus I find Ikiru particularly interesting. I’ll have to see if Netflix carries that.
You simply cannot go wrong with Kurosawa. Whereas most top level directors have made 1 or 2 masterpieces, he’s made about 8.
I can’t watch It’s a Wonderful Life, way too depressing, but the other films sound interesting for sure.
Kinda surprised Office Space didn’t make the list.
Office Space is an excellent comedy, which I have enjoyed. It didn’t fit the criteria for 2 reasons:
Despite being clever and funny, the view of work is a pretty standard diss. I wanted to write about ones that think outside the box. I also tried to choose ones that most critics would call “classic”. That’s subjective, of course. There’s a “test of time” aspect required. These are all films from before the industry’s sea change of 1969 (due to the box office success of Easy Rider) that continue to show up on critics’ lists.
Wonderful Life is indeed a lot darker than Capra’s usual, because it follows Dickens’ rules. The virtuous hero must endure enormous social injustices that cause him/her to change and rise above the obstacles to conquer by character, and maybe just a little divine intervention. That is how Dickens got the readers to care about his heroes. The masses could read and believe God loved the poor and things would all work out in the end. It does have one of the greatest payoffs of any movie. I would urge you to give it another try.
I was kinda j/king about Office Space, but the other films do sound good. I’ve watched It’s a Wonderful Life a few times, but it is a movie i avoid like the plague. Since I never saved a life or saved Donna Reed from becoming a spinster librarian, it makes me sad. It is a truly beautiful film though, and funny enough, I love Dickens.
If I may be so bold, Your life is more than a bit Dickensian in its arc so far.
I haven’t seen any of these… I’m uncultured! -sobs-
I had only seen Wonderful Life and Lillies of the Field by your age, because they were shown often on regular old broadcast TV at the time. I was introduced to the foreign films at college. You’re gonna like college.
Terrific choices, all…!!
Thanks, Iris. (Thanks also for your plug of the blog at your own site.)
You are very welcome! Now, how about getting out for a few minutes and away from the computer before it’s time for more work?
Take care.
Good idea! As soon as I finish having my grant deed notarized, fax back the visual inspection agreement for Mrs. I to sign, priority-mail the escrow disclosures, take the first of 4 tests for the credential I need for my new job responsibilities, buy cat food, print out a map to Sea-Tac and take these next 2 x-rays – I’ll get right on it!
I do expect it will get much calmer once we take possession of Casa DeLuxe on July 2nd. I’m going to PLAN for continued simplicity and balance.
It’s A Wonderful Life is one of my favourite films ever. It is dark, but it’s also very optimistic because it shows our lives are valuable and that we are all connected, whether it’s obvious to us, or not.
If we all had the opportunity to see how life would be if we’d never be born, we’d see our place in the world and appreciate ourselves much more.
Well said, Pie. Thank you for stopping by to do so.
Watched A Nous La Liberte this morning. Really was a great film. Loved the message.
Rene Clair had a unique talent. He made films here too (in English) during WW2, when France was occupied. One is called “I Married a Witch” with Frederic March and Veronica Lake, which later was the basis for “Bewitched” on TV. His best American film IMO is “And Then There Were None”, the ’40s version of Agatha Christie’s murder mystery “Ten Little Indians”.