THE WORKING CLASS GOES TO HEAVEN ("La classe operaia va in paradiso", 1971)

Everyone has a breaking point. Some people never stop breaking. This month, we're taking a look at an exasperated, shouty, sweaty satire from Elio Petri, the story of an overcommitted factory worker whose philosophy of hardwork and company loyalty is jumbled by a grisly workplace accident. Join us as we dig into this grimly comic picket-line parable...

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THE WORKING CLASS GOES TO HEAVEN ("La classe operaia va in paradiso", 1971)
Dir. by Elio Petri
Watch here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r3caanxNWhk

Lulù's 31 years-old, but he doesn't look it. Having spent the last fifteen years of his life in the same dead-end factory job, he's accrued a whole host of scars, callouses, and wrinkles that add toll upon toll to his ever-moving body. Lulù doesn't mind though - he's an ultra efficient worker and he sees his unceasing labor as a point of personal pride, one which he lords over his not-so-amused coworkers. But when one of his manic bouts of hyperproductivity results in Lulù seriously injuring himself, the model worker's delusions of satisfaction begin to unravel. And with the union and student protesters alike fighting for reform all around him, he's spoiled for choice as far as picking new alliances go. But do any of them want him?

A slow descent into toil-induced madness that should be sympathetic to anyone who's been stuck at a really shitty job, Petri's film paints a grime-smeared portrait of a man who reaches the limits of his sanity before he even realizes it. Let's talk about it!

*As always, this is a movie discussion group—we invite you to watch the film on your own ahead of time, and come ready to discuss.*