Thursday, November 19, 2009

Humain, Trop Humain


I just watched an extraordinary movie about cars. It's Louis Malle's 1974 documentary Humain, Trop Humain. The 70+ minute movie was mostly shot at a Citroen GS factory in Brittany. At the factory, there is no dialogue. There is no monologue; there is not even narration. The film just shows the workers assembling the car from start to finish. It's mesmerizing and shows how man and woman have become an integral part of the assembly line machinery. It's not a good fit. The eyes of many of the workers are glazed over. You can literally see the soul being slowly sapped out of them.

There's also a nice snippet from a car show. Apparently, not all French people were impressed with French cars and their eccentricities.

What did I learn? It took a lot of cigarettes and hammers to build a Citroen.

(It's available on Netflix.)

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