The Take
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DVD details
Actor: Naomi KleinDVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround; Spanish (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround; English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled)
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, NTSC, Subtitled
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 87 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2006-02-21
Audience Rating: Unrated
Studio: FIRST RUN FEATURES
DVD Reviews of The Take
DVD Review: Reflection on "The Take"
Summary: 5 Stars
Reflections on "The Take" J. Alexander
I've seen this film a few times now and it remains inspiring on repeated viewings, as do the bonus features included on the disc. Not just a microcosm of the effects of globalization in Latin America, this film is a microcosm of globalism everywhere in the world and how ordinary people can overcome the extraordinary corruption and exploitation institutionalized throughout the world economy of, by, and for the corporate elitist bankers, investors, and politicians. As is said toward the end of the film, "We [Argentina] are the mirror to look into, the mistake to avoid. Argentina is the waste that remains of a globalized country. We are where the rest of the world is going."
In the 1990s under President Menem and the direction of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), social services in Argentina were reduced, whole industries were sold off to foreign firms, and backroom deals were made, guaranteed to benefit the international elites and corrupt politicians when the well ran dry from being over bled by `pigs on the wing'. No other outcome was possible, and no other outcome has ever ultimately resulted. To profit under capitalism, corporations must create scarcity (by limiting supply) on the one hand, and an unlimited supply of cheap labor on the other. So when they were unable to do this in Argentina (due to worker demands and depressed global demand), they decided to remove all liquid capital from the Argentine economy and liquidate factories and equipment as quickly as possible.
Many workers, however, though `free to starve,' chose, rather, to take their right-to-life seriously by seizing their means of earning a living. Though non-ideological, they naturally and un-self-consciously embarked on an anarcho-syndicalist adventure not unlike the kibbutzim (collective farms) of Israel.
To succeed, they had to work with the corrupt system and politicians still entrenched in their country. But most of them apparently could see that putting the factories back to work was in the interests of the whole country. Where the workers have had the toughest time is in securing any sort of credit or loans from financial institutions, and the worker-owned factories that have found lasting success have done so by nurturing strong connections with, and support from their local communities.
To answer a few of the `guiding questions', socialism and capitalism are both state-run on behalf of corrupt elites; their just two models for exploiting the people. What the enlightened workers realize is that they cannot depend on any leader of any party, because the entire system, including the so-called democratic process, is entirely corrupt and controlling. No one, for instance, should be at all surprised that Barack Obama is giving the bankers billions and billions of dollars, after the millions they contributed to his election campaign. What we all need is a truly democratic process not for sale to the highest bidder.
When the workers find themselves in control of their own remunerative destinies they learn the greatest lesson of all: (political/economic) freedom = (moral) responsibility and vigilance. Most people are secretly afraid of freedom and the responsibility it demands, and this is why most people have allowed themselves to be enslaved, in one form or another, around the world and throughout human history.
The would-be owners and rulers, like Menem and "Mr. Zanon", are forever watching and waiting for their moment. They are leaches with the heart of compulsive gamblers. Their ideal world is a casino and a pair of loaded dice; and any `system' with rules can and will be rigged to benefit them--once they get in. This is why Thomas Jefferson said that every generation needs a revolution to "renew the blood of freedom".
Not only is such a anti- or counter-globalist revolution possible in the United States today, it is absolutely necessary if we value our lives and our future. Furthermore, given the current `take' by Wall Street, I believe it is imminent. Our economy is being swallowed whole, and we are headed for an unavoidable cataclysm. But this time, although the revolution will probably not be televised by Murdoch and friends, it will happen on a global scale and succeed in the industrialized cities with universities, where workers can most easily and effectively organize, and where idealistic student activists are a short march away from campus to CBD (Central Business District).
Given current science and technology, a worker-controlled resource based economy will provide an unlimited supply of renewable energy for the cheap production and transportation of food and medicine to every corner of the world. But there's nothing in that for the profiteers -so they'll have to go.
?Viva la revolucion!
DVD Review: An alternative vision for the world
Summary: 5 Stars
A riveting political documentary with beautiful cinematography, high production values, and the power to make me cry. As a film giving a grand panorama of the dramatic events in Argentina after the cacerola, it does an amazing job. And the big picture view is balanced nicely by the glimpse into the deeply personal. It definitely worked well to follow one single occupation, though I wish we had seen more of the interplay between the men and their discussions upon actually taking over! I suppose it didn't make for riveting. But the footage is incredible, and the individuals inspiring.
This certainly captures the joy and hope and pain of mass struggle, and who can fail to be moved by tiny abuelitas facing down riot cops? It left me wanting to go deeper, to find out more about the occupations themselves, the work of supporting them, the challenges and successes faced by workers, the political context. There was a taste of all these things, but only a taste. I do think that the heroism of the daily struggle to actually make something work for the long-term is often overlooked in favour of photogenic confrontations. As time has shown, there were a lot of undercurrents in the factories that never made it onto film, and to me that is where the true lessons often lie for those wishing to create a better world. Even so, it is a true pleasure to watch, and it's importance in helping create a vision of viable alternatives is profound.
Finally though, the extras are quality! The short on Gustavo Benedetto, one of the victims of police repression, is incredibly touching. It's also a moving look at the people's efforts to remember, and the State's efforts to erase all memory. And the stuff on the making of the film was rather eye-opening!
DVD Review: Self-Management at It's Finest.
Summary: 5 Stars
I have long been an advocate of workers self-management and socialism from below. This is the best documentary available to see these ideals, not just theorized on paper, but in actions executed by ordinary people. The most inspiring aspect of this dvd is that the workers created the entire movement. Free of a vanguard or liberal reformers. This was direct democracy in it's purest and most beautiful.
The film is a wonderful exhibit of what community based grassroots activism can accomplish. You see more than the inner workings of recovered factories but also root causes of the economic stagnation and unemployment, the links between workers and the rest of the community and the never ending war between the leaders of the expropriations and the former factory owners. You get the sense that all these things are intimately related through a complex political economy that fails to serve the people.
The film was slanted against the IMF and the rest of the unholy trinity but I would say the near unanimous blame of the IMF by the Argentine people warrants such a view. Despite this slant time is given to leading businessmen and neo-liberals to defend their stances and explain their positions. All in all it's a great way to look inside the world of direct democracy and what societies could look like in a decentralized, cooperative nation. Bravo!
DVD Review: Compelling story and theory ruined by lefty hype.
Summary: 2 Stars
I like the story that this film tells about the workers of the closed factories trying to bring Argentina back from the brink by getting back to work. I believe that recuperation is a fair way to settle owed wages, satisfy the other creditors and provide productive work. I think its a shame that the politicians would do anything but fully support the workers' endeavors in getting the economy moving again.
Despite this, the film is ruined by half-baked ideas about the IMF and the Multi-nationals causing the ruin of the Argentine economy. The IMF is the only organization in the world that continued to provide hard currency to the Argentine government after the economic crisis. The Multinational corporations only did what they could to try to mitigate their losses caused by the collapse by getting the hell out of Dodge.
The true culprits in the plot are the corrupt politicians and the nefarious bigwigs running the local enterprises like Forja San Martin. (Am I the only one who noticed that the film includes no examples of Multinationals abandoning a factory?) Argentina had crappy fiscal and monetary policies, including bloated subsidies to companies like Zanon (before the take-over), and a pegged currency. The references to IMF policy prescriptions (El Modelo) never mention that Argentina ignored the most basic reforms that are supposed to ensure stability and solvency of the government and support economic development while helping those hurt by the attendant dislocations that development will cause (i.e.: job loss, etc.) I don't know why they were so timid about calling out these scoundrels, other than that they'd have to pass up taking cheaps shots at the IMF, Multinational corporations, and other globalization bogeymen.
I would have appreciated this film much more if it were more honest about the true circumstances that lead to the sad state of affairs that it documents. I would have rated it at least four stars had it done so.
12-28-2008:
If you disagree with my review, I'd appreciate some feedback in a comment. Since I posted this review, I've only gotten "unhelpful" votes, but no constructive feedback. It's rather frustrating, as I feel I gave this film and its argument quite a bit of thought and additional research before giving it a marginally unfavorable rating.
DVD Review: The Take
Summary: 5 Stars
Scripted by activist-author Naomi Klein ("No Logo") and directed by Avi Lewis, "The Take" is a probing look at the ugly underside of globalization and its discontents, as well as a compelling portrait of blue-collar pride and self-esteem. We get to know the workers and their families, hearing about the hardships so many have endured since an ill-advised International Monetary Fund bailout plunged Argentina deeper into debt and disarray. Urgent and damning in its implications, "The Take" is a David and Goliath story with real-world reverberations.
Description of The Take
{WINNER! Best Documentary, 2005 Cleveland International Film Festival}{WINNER! Grand Jury Prize, 2004 AFI Los Angeles International Film Festival}
{WINNER! Best Justice and Human Rights Film, 2004 Vermont International Film Festival}
In the wake of Argentina's spectacular economic collapse, Latin America's most prosperous middle class finds itself in a ghost town of abandoned factories and mass unemployment. Thirty unemployed auto-parts workers walk into their idle factory in Buenos Aires, roll out sleeping mats and refuse to leave. All they want is to re-start the silent machines. But this simple act has the power to turn the globalization debate on its head.
Filmmakers Avi Lewis and Naomi Klein take viewers inside the lives of the workers and their families, who must fight for jobs and their dignity by confronting factory owners, politicians and judges. The result is a real-life political thriller that pits ordinary workers against the local ruling elite and the powerful forces of global capitalism.
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