Over the Years Film Difficulty Ranking: 5
Want to watch a slow 3 hour documentary starring a group of Austrian factory workers? Probably doesn’t sound too enticing right?
Well you shouldn’t be put off. During these three hours you will gain a greater appreciation of life and death.
Why Watch Over the Years?
- You want to watch a long documentary that explores the meaning of life
- To understand what it is like living from week to week in Europe
- See an example of the industries that have been left behind by modernization (this one is a good companion to Factory)
- Get to know a group of Austrian’s intimately over a 10 year period
The Breakdown
The Anderl factory near Schrems (in Austria) once employed 250 people to produce textiles. In 2004 only a handful are still working at the factory.
This is the story of the handful still working at the factory in 2004. The film visits the group every few years over a ten year period to see how their lives are changing.
Ultimately, their lives are not changing. Even though the factory closes down, they end up in similar jobs after periods of unemployment. Some of them prefer their new jobs, some of them retire and pick up some hobbies. It is all pretty mundane – none of them leave town or try anything different to what is expected of them.
It is as if they are just living out their allotted time like the decline of the factory they worked at. The factory faded away with the tide of modernization and globalization. Similarly, over the ten years of filming, the characters slowly age, hinting that they (like us) will fade away too.
Conclusion
So what is great about this film then if it’s just a portrait of the mundane? Well, for me, it’s the incredible portrait of time passing. You get to witness this group of people experience ups and downs. You get to live their lives for 3 hours. And what does that give you? A much greater understanding of the meaning of life. It made me appreciate my mortality and the limited time I have on this earth. DEEP!