Fresh
This documentary about men and women performing brutal work tasks for next to no money is full of arresting and eloquent images.
Walter V. Addiego, San Francisco Chronicle
Workingman's Death
A documentary on the extremes to which workers will go to earn a living.
2005 · 2h 2m · NOT RATED
Documentary
Directed by
Michael Glawogger
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Workingman's Death
Overview
Is heavy manual labour disappearing or is it just becoming invisible? Where can we still find it in the 21st century? Workingman's Death follows the trail of the HEROES in the illegal mines of the Ukraine, sniffs out GHOST among the sulphur workers in Indonesia, finds itself face to face with LIONS at a slaughterhouse in Nigeria, mingles with BROTHERS as they cut a huge oil tanker into pieces in Pakistan, and joins Chinese steel workers in hoping for a glorious FUTURE.
Director and cast
Critics on Rotten Tomatoes
Top critics, in their words
75%
Tomatometer
Fresh
There's scant dialogue in Workingman's Death, but little is needed when majestic camera work by Wolfgang Thaler tells the story so well.
V.A. Musetto, New York Post
Rotten
It's not exactly a good time at the movies, and even as pure education, it's a rather dull film with very little dialogue.
Allison Benedikt, Chicago Tribune
Fresh
Michael Glawogger's glamorized documentary observes laborers from around the world going to hell and back, day after day, year after year, to eke out subsistence livings.
Stephen Holden, New York Times
Fresh
Glawogger is an extraordinarily elegant filmmaker with a photographer's eye for striking compositions.
Nathan Rabin, AV Club
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