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The images speak for themselves |
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Tuesday, 12 August 2008 |
‘Notre Pain Quotidien’ by Nikolaus Geyrhalter
Austrian documentary maker Nikolaus
Geyrhalter’s prize-winning 92-minute
film – without commentary, dialogue or
propaganda – presents a horrific overview of
current industrial farming techniques. Over a
period of two years, strategically placed
cameras recorded the daily procedures inside
some of the largest agricultural establishments
in Europe.
The industry is highly mechanised –
clunking, whirring and grinding noises
provide the eerie soundtrack to images qui
glacent le sang. The scale of production is
almost unimaginable. Monoculture prairies
and greenhouses stretch into the far distance.
Livestock sheds house thousands of animals.
One long hot shows chickens crammed so
tightly together you might be looking at a
thick white carpet. Fish are so densely packed
they appear to be swimming on the spot.
The DVD is available from the film’s websites :
www.ourdailybread.at/ (English version) www.kmbofilms.com/DVDNpq.html (French)
KMBO, 7 rue Ambroise Thomas, 75009 Paris
These gigantic establishments employ few
workers. On mobile platforms two men in
protective suits, goggles and gas-masks
drench endless rows of spindly pepper plants
with pesticide. A couple of girls blunt the
beaks of baby chicks as if they were dealing
with inanimate objects. A man tours racks of
battery hens checking for dead birds. Another
stacks identical straight cucumbers. At meal
breaks, the workers tuck into their
sandwiches. Often they are alone, mostly they
are silent, pale, grim-faced, reminiscent of
Fritz Lang’s ‘Metropolis’.
The viewer is spared nothing, from
slaughterhouse detail to sperm-collecting
techniques from deformed bulls. Geyrhalter
holds his shots long enough for the
implications to sink in. The film exposes
unpalatable truths and should, I believe, be
shown on national television throughout
Europe. Everybody has the right to know the
origins of their food and how it is produced.
For those who believe that health is a priority,
there should surely be no contest.
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