Comedy | THE LABOR FILM DATABASE

Hyenas (1992)

110m; Senegal

Director: Djibril Diop Mambéty

Cast: Ami Diakhate, Djibril Diop Mambéty and Mansour Diouf

Synopsis: A once-prosperous Senegalese village has been falling further into poverty year by year until the village’s elders are reduced to selling town possessions to pay debts. Linguère, a former resident and local beauty, now very rich, returns to this, the village of her birth. The elders hope that she will be a benefactor to the village. To encourage her generosity, they appoint a local grocer, Dramaan, as mayor–who once courted her and will now try to persuade her to help. In fact, Linguère has returned with the intention of sharing her millions with the village but only in return for an unexpected action. This plot twist brings human folly and cynicism into sharp focus.

Leave a comment

Posted by Metro Council on March 9, 2012 in Comedy, Drama, Farm & Food, Global Economy, Politics

Gold Diggers of 1933 (1933)

01 Mar

96m; U.S.

Director: Mervyn LeRoy

Cast: Warren William, Joan Blondell and Aline MacMahon

Synopsis (IMDB): Millionaire turned composer Dick Powell rescues unemployed Broadway people with a new play.

Leave a comment

Posted by Metro Council on March 1, 2012 in Comedy, Drama, Entertainment Industry, Working Class

Tags: Mining

Fun With Dick And Jane (2005)

01 Mar

90m; U.S.

Director: Dean Parisot

Cast: Jim Carrey, Téa Leoni and Alec Baldwin

Synopsis: The day before Globodyne’s stock tanks, a la Enron, and its pension fund evaporates, the corporation’s CEO and CFO set up middle manager Dick Harper to be the public face of the disaster. Jobless, and with no savings, pension, or home equity, Dick and his wife Jane sink slowly into poverty. He looks for work (as do all former Globodyne executives); he even tries day labor with the relatives of their Mexican nanny. A foreclosure notice sends Dick and Jane over the edge into a life of blue-collar crime. Then, as things finally look up, the report of an looming indictment pushes Dick and Jane toward a denouement with the real criminals, the white-collar guys

Leave a comment

Posted by Metro Council on March 1, 2012 in Comedy, White Collar, Working Class

The Great Bazaar (2005)

01 Mar

56m; Mozambique

Director: Licínio Azevedo

Cast: Edmundo Mondlane, Chano Orlando, Chico António, Paito Tcheco, Manuel Adamo

Synopsis: A 12-year-old vendor, robbed in an African suburb, pursues his young robbers into the city. He begins to live in a market square that at night becomes a dormitory for homeless vendors.

Leave a comment

Posted by Metro Council on March 1, 2012 in Children, Comedy, Working Class

Great World of Sound (2007)

01 Mar

106m; U.S.

Director: Craig Zobel

Cast: John Baker, Frances Green and James Green

Synopsis: When a man answers an ad to train as a record producer, he’s excited by the prospect of signing undiscovered artists only to discover his new job isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.

Leave a comment

Posted by Metro Council on March 1, 2012 in Comedy, Entertainment Industry

Grosse Point Blank (1997)

01 Mar

107m; U.S.

Director: George Armitage

Cast: John Cusack, Minnie Driver and Dan Aykroyd

Synopsis: Martin Blank is a professional assassin. He is sent on a mission to a small Detroit suburb, Grosse Pointe, and, by coincidence, his ten-year high school reunion party is taking place there at the same time. Meanwhile, another hitman (Dan Ackroyd) attempts to form a union of assassins.

Leave a comment

Posted by Metro Council on March 1, 2012 in Comedy, Romance

Gung Ho (1986)

01 Mar

112m; U.S.

Director: Ron Howard

Cast: Michael Keaton, Gedde Watanabe and George Wendt

Synopsis (IMDB): When a Japanese car company buys an American plant, the American liason must mediate the clash of work attitudes between the foreign management and native labor.

Leave a comment

Posted by Metro Council on March 1, 2012 in Comedy, Drama, Industrial/Mine/Manufacturing, Working Class

Haiku Tunnel (2001)

01 Mar

88m; U.S.

Director: Jacob Kornbluth, Josh Kornbluth

Cast: Josh Kornbluth, Warren Keith and Sarah Overman

Synopsis: Josh has an offer to “go perm” at his employer and the first task is to mail 17 high priority letters….something that seems a little difficult to do.

Leave a comment

Posted by Metro Council on March 1, 2012 in Comedy, White Collar

Happy Times (2000)

01 Mar

102m; China

Director: Yimou Zhang

Cast: Lifan Dong, Benshan Zhao and Jie Dong

Synopsis (IMDB): Zhao is an old laid-off worker who’s dreaming of getting married. After trying unsuccessful proposals, he finally pair off with a gargantuan divorcée with two children. She, however, demands a lavish wedding and that Zhao finds a job and another place to stay for her blind step-daughter. Pretending he’s the General Manager of a non-existent posh hotel “Happy Times”, Zhao had to find ways and means of keeping both mother and stepdaughter happy.

Leave a comment

Posted by Metro Council on March 1, 2012 in Comedy, Drama, Service Workers, Working Class