2084: Video Clip for the Trade Unions' Reflection and Pleasure (1984)
Filmed on the 100th anniversary of the labour union laws in France, the quasi-science fiction film is set in 2084. A robot moderator helps us look 'back' at the contemporary labour situation and different directions the movement could take.
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So much average
While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.
By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.
One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.
In this short film, which is about ten minutes in length, Marker critiques, from a Socialist perspective, the role of the trade union movement in France at the dawn of the era of global web economies. He argues that trade unions are submissive to society, not the other way around, and in fact, that this century of trade unions will be looked back upon as a transitional period in which barbarism was a commonly used tactic. This can not only be used to describe what began to happen in France at this point in time, but can also be generalized to all advanced neo-liberal societies in which the powers of the "middle class worker" were beginning to be systematically eliminated and suppressed by capitalist oligarchies. Incredibly, Marker calls for something which is only now developing- what is known as social movement unionism. Social movement unions seek to organize all workers no matter what their sector, race, ethnicity, or gender and combine efforts with social organizations to affect public policy thus giving them the power to improve social conditions for all people! They attempt to organize at the local, national and international levels to counter the power of the international corporations that have neo-liberal governments tending to their every whim. Marker is well ahead of his time calling for this- a good 15-20 years! What Marker calls for in this film has become quite prevalent today- especially with groups like the APL in the Phillipines. Marker's advice is on its way to becoming reality- though as he states in the concluding statement of the film, "And provide we hurry a little it'll take just a century." ps.I plan to add a film synopsis in the near future