Brothers

Filmmaker: Michael Glawogger

“Work is often difficult to see, and therefore difficult to depict.
Physical labour is probably the only real kind of work.”
Michael Glawogger

In today’s technological age is heavy manual labour disappearing or is it just becoming invisible?

Physical work was once celebrated with hymns of praise. But today workers must be content in the knowledge that their hard work is better than no work at all.

Working Man’s Death looks at the state of physical work across the world today. Work that is dreary, demanding and, at times, dangerous.

In this episode, we visit the ship-breaking yard of Gadani in Pakistan, where derelict vessels are beached and then dismantled for scrap metal – with a bare minimum of mechanical assistance.

“Most of the workers here are Pashtuns. The Pashtuns are a poor people. That’s why they are here. As for me, I’ve been working here for 14 years, but only because I have no other options. I wouldn’t be able to find any other work,” one worker says.

Another explains: “In all these years nothing has changed, everything is exactly the same. The pay has never really been enough, neither back then nor today. Work, work, work. For my entire adult life this work is all I’ve ever known.”