Toil Unrewarded

Three guys decide to fight their union and the factory that employs them in Paul Schrader's 1978 film Blue Collar. The product of a troubled production, this film is remarkable as an authentic and insightful portrait of a time and place. It's sadly ironic to note how much worse life has become for the working man of Detroit since the film's release, though.

Richard Pryor, Harvey Keitel, and Yaphet Kotto play the three employees. They work in a car factory and belong to a union. They don't have much affection for the union officials who seem unable or unwilling to solve simple problems, such as a broken lock on Pryor's locker. Nevertheless, when an FBI man comes sniffing around, they all give him the cold shoulder.

But things are getting desperate. Pryor owes an outrageous sum in back taxes and Keitel's teenage daughter needs braces. Kotto, who plays the brains of the group, comes up with the idea of robbing the union safe. When they do, they're shocked to find no money, just a notebook with a list of investments. This, though, turns out to be a hotter item than it at first seems.

Kotto and Pryor are both terrific. Kotto is cool as fuck in this movie. There's a scene where he fights a couple guys with a baseball bat that's immensely satisfying. Pryor's character isn't as smart even if he is witty. Pryor's performance and improvisations make him seem extraordinarily raw and real. It's Keitel who disappoints. Physically, he looks out of place, at this point for some reason having a body-builder's physique. He's mild for most of the film, it's hard to understand how he bonded with Kotto's and Pryor's characters.

It's a terrific screenplay by Paul Schrader and his brother Leonard. It's a satisfyingly complex heist mystery drama as well as being an insightful portrait of low level politics. Who'd have believed that 50 years later everyone would be missing these steel hellscapes? As bad as things are depicted in Detroit in the movie, nowadays Detroit doesn't even have it that good, with massive unemployment rates that have turned the town into the wasteland you can see in Jim Jarmusch's Only Lovers Left Alive.

Blue Collar is available on The Criterion Channel this month as part of a collection of films directed by Paul Schrader.

X Sonnet #1856

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