I, the best worker from shaft no. 9,
do solemnly swear that by the end of the year...
I will have extracted 28.000 tons over the work norm!
I, the best worker from shaft no. 9,
do solemnly swear that by the end of the year...
I will have extracted 28.000 tons over the work norm!
5 Portraits of Work in the 21st Century
HEROES
The difference between coal and rock?
Do you see this chunk?
I'm going to put it to the test now.
You see, it's rock.
This rust-colored lump is coal, see?
Coal.
And then you've also got these pieces,
they're dark brown and look like coal, little pieces like this.
I check each shovelful for coal and keep every piece,
no matter how small it is.
There's definitely coal here.
If you dig deeper into this hole,
there's definitely coal, back there, good coal,
great big chunks.
Now everything's frozen so it's not as good.
This time of year I can fill one sack a day.
But in the summertime I'll get 2 to 3 sacks.
Honest, 2 to 3 sacks.
Alexei Stakhanov
August 31, 1935
A Historic Night
Donbass, Soviet Union
102 tons of coal in one shift.
Long live the Stakhanovite movement!
This land and age has grown great through work,
across the vast and open country...
the nation of Stakhanov heroes marches onward,
and miners wage the fight for coal,
the nation of Stakhanov heroes marches onward,
and miners wage the fight for coal.
In times of peace as well as war...
miners always love their country.
the nation of Stakhanov heroes marches onward,
prepared to fight the enemy.
You can't compare us with Stakhanov, that was something completely different.
We're not driven by enthusiasm.
We're not being pushed: dig more, dig faster.
That was all just a show.
Yeah, just a show, nothing but a big show.
No, Stakhanovism wasn't a show,
it was a movement to stimulate the coal industry.
No, Wolodja, we don't need enthusiasm.
Sure, but we're motivated by something else.
Our enthusiasm comes from the will to survive.
We work to survive.
If you don't work, you'll freeze to death.
And that's that.
When Petrowitsch enters the mine he says:
"Hello, mine."
It's a kind of substitute prayer.
You come in and say, "Hello, mine,"
go in further and say, "Hello, place," and so on.
Or: "Tremble, mine!
"Here comes the drunken coal digger!"
We slaughtered the cow today. We have meat again.
This son of a bitch is driving me crazy. Come here, Witja.
Pickax? - You don't need it.
Okay, buddy, here we go!
We used to work in government mines,
but they're all shut down now.
We had to find new jobs, but there weren't any.
How we found this place? They used to work this mine ages ago.
The pits were already here.
We went in, saw there was still coal in there,
and that's how we started excavating here.
It was as simple as that.
Not just sometimes, we're scared the whole time.
It just has to cave in 10cm and that's the end of us.
There'd be no way to get us out of here.
Is there still some in there? - Yes.
Our grandfathers used to call veins like these "mousetraps."
C'mon, slow down a little. - Don't have a heart attack.
Just keep pushing and we'll be done soon.
My daughter told me her school is all damp and clammy.
There's water seeping in from above.
Everyone keeps their coats on in class.
Shit, all they do is take off their scarves and mittens.
Those fuckin' idiots.
The dumplings are good, just a little cold already.
Ah, they were cooked in oil, that's why they cool down faster.
We should have taken a break earlier.
We should have worked faster.
Is your goat doing better?
Yes, she's better. the doctor prescribed her some vitamins.
Tanja feeds her with a syringe. She's healthy and eating again.
One of mine died.
What, a kid? - Yeah.
What happened? - No idea. It wasn't eating.
Borislawa fed and fed it, then it kicked the bucket.
We're doing it right. My wife says, "I'm not feeding them like before.
"I'm following the book. Even if they're scrawny.
"Let them be scrawny. I'll feed them when they get bigger."
Who knows, maybe it's the right way.
Don't get stuck.
Stop! Easy does it!
Wait till he's on his feet.
Here we go!
How our life together has been up until now?
It's been good, right? - Yes, very good.
Life itself is full of happiness.
Especially when we were young, it was wonderful.
During vacations we'd drive all over, everywhere.
Yes, we had a car and could drive to the seaside.
We always went some place. We had everything then.
Even now, we take outdoor trips with the boys. We celebrate every holiday.
And our celebrations are usually happy rollicking parties.
But - we've lived together for 21 years...
and have never celebrated our anniversary.
In fact, we never really celebrated our wedding.
I used to come here on my breaks, I was studying at Perm University in the Urals.
I was in my third year and afterwards I was supposed to stay there to work.
He asked me, "Do you really want to stay there?"
We were celebrating New Year's with friends.
On January 2, he woke up in the morning and said to me:
"You know what, we should get married. Then I'll know you're coming back."
I captured her.
Hi.
Who do we have here? - This is our little Knopochka.
Why are you carrying her? Did you just feed her?
She's so little, our Knopochka!
Say: "How do you do?"
Is she doing alright now? Is she okay?
Yes, she's all better now.
Is there anything to eat?
Yes, I made pelmeni. Shall I run a bath for you?
Yes, run me a bath.
Are you tired?
I'm exhausted.
Do you want to lie down?
I just want to sleep.
You've been lying on your back all day anyway.
I'm hungry.
Your dinner is coming right up.
Meanwhile you can run my bath.
In a second.
Of course our pit is illegal according to the law.
But we see things differently.
The state doesn't give us work or wages.
But we have to survive somehow.
Yes, and feed our families, our children.
I'm not getting rich. I'm not making a profit.
I'm doing this to survive, no more and no less.
At least you could work the next eight months.
I'm not complaining, but I think I'm sick.
In any case I'm staying home tomorrow.
Do you like this job?
I think it's great.
To warm us up I brought a little something to drink.
Otherwise...
Sure we'd rather have a good job,
a job where we weren't always so dirty,
where we could wear clean clothes.
But we don't have that.
We should have gone to college.
And what good would that have done us?
Knowledge is power. - But what good would it have done?
No good. You finish your studies...
and then none of the companies will hire you.
Everything's closing, everything's falling apart.
That's the way it is.
As a girl, I wanted to become a dancer, I loved to dance, didn't I?
I loved to dance.
Now I dance with sacks of coal in the mine.
That looks terrific.
You haul 1.5 to 2 tons a day and you're all danced out.
What do you want to do tonight?
I can't wait to take a bath. - Want to come over to our place?
I don't know yet, I'm tired.
We could watch TV together.
It's too far for me, I have to get up early tomorrow.
On "The Word of Life" they always say:
"You commit a sin when you work in the mines.
"Stay home and pray and God will provide."
Yeah right, God will provide...
A loaf of bread will fall from the sky, or what?
Alexei Stakhanov
Now it's burning.
Okay, Slawa, here's to you, don't forget us...
and may you enjoy your hard-earned retirement.
Let your things burn so you'll never have to wear them again!
Come, drink!
Here, Sergej, here. After all, we're celebrating your retirement.
Yes, congratulations and enjoy retired life! - Thank you.
GHOSTS
Kawah Ijen, INDONESIA
A friend of mine dreamt...
that a goat head had to be sacrificed every year.
The goat head has to be taken up and buried in the sulfur.
If this sacrifice, which is to be made once a year, is neglected,
an accident is sure to happen.
Once a woman fell into the volcano.
No one knows exactly how it happened.
What is certain is that she fell down it and died.
I can tell you exactly how it happened with a friend.
He was working in Sari Enam.
While he was breaking off chunks of sulfur,
he suddenly slipped...
and fell into the boiling sulfur and was burned to death.
What do you drink when you drink?
It varies. Sometimes Johnnie Walker, sometimes something else.
What's important is that it gets you all fired up...
and then you go into a bar where there are fist fights.
Sometimes your own body is all bruised and swollen.
Why do you have to get drunk first?
So that you are calm and feel no fear.
I used to be able to take on 4 men.
Even 6 of them was no problem for me.
I beat up the biggest one...
and the other ones ran away.
I do the same thing when I take on 4 men.
I throw the one I beat up outside in the grass and leave him lying there.
Then I go home.
Is he dead then?
No, just unconscious - after that I leave him alone.
Don't they come after you for beating people unconscious?
Of course they come after you so you hide.
Is that why you came here?
Yes, I fled straight here to Banyuwangi.
I heard there was sulfur work on Kawah Ijen.
I came here...
because it's better than getting mixed up in brawls somewhere else.
Are you one of Ijo's regular customers? Or Enti's? Is she good?
She's fantastic! She's so slender.
But what's the fat one's name? Tagiri?
Yes, Tagiri.
She's real fat.
I like the way she moves, though.
But moves aren't everything.
What counts is the satisfaction.
Oh yes, the satisfaction.
Yes exactly, what counts is the satisfaction.
Yeah, instead of going to Tagiri, or whatever her name is,
I go down to Banyuwangi after weighing in.
There you pay 150 thousand, 200 thousand at the most.
A room costs 50-75 thousand extra,
you have a little fun, you come back up here,
climb the mountain, go back down and have your load weighed.
What else have they given you? - Cookies.
Cookies? Is that all, never a kiss?
What? - A kiss?
Yes, sure, once.
It happened to me once before too.
Three months ago I saw a woman and said to her: "Morning."
"You come from?" She said: "France."
And I asked her:
"What is name?" Aha, your name is Nofia.
What language is that? - We shook hands. English.
Can you speak English? - A little.
Enough for a short conversation.
After we shook hands, I said:
"I want to kiss you."
"Please." Then I kissed her and felt elation.
My nose was still dirty from the sulfur kitchen.
But I was allowed to kiss her. That was very pleasurable.
Show him a ten.
Ten? Do we want to buy it?
Yeah, for 10 it's OK. - We don't have a 10.
Do you see the vapors over there?
How many kilos are you carrying? - 115 kilograms.
Really? That's a lot.
Yes, of course.
If we let our emotions get the better of us...
and let the teasing that turns our ears red get to us,
we will quit our jobs and in doing so harm ourselves.
How much can you carry?
70kg, and you?
Me too.
But we manage those 70kg pretty well.
One shouldn't overdo things.
Forget what the others say about us.
And who knows, one day we'll get away from this place.
We're climbing up the mountain, we're climbing up the mountain,
climbing up, up, up, high up to the mountain top.
Do you like to listen to dangdut?
No.
Me either, I prefer western music.
What's that?
Bon Jovi, Scorpions, that kind of stuff.
What kind of name is Bon Jovi?
That's the name of the band. One of the members is named Bon Jovi.
He's the singer, songwriter, and director.
And do you understand them?
Yes, I understand them. But I can't afford their CDs, they're too expensive.
The band is made up of four people:
Nicolas, Brian,
Adam, and Bon Jovi.
That many? And only one is Bon Jovi?
Yeah, like dangdut. He plays the guitar.
That means the group is called Bon Jovi?
Yes, they made the name of the band out of his name.
LIONS
Innards! Skin! Head!
Skin! Innards!
Innards! Skin! Head! Innards! Skin! Head!
Mallam!
Hey, boy! Hold this goat for me for a sec.
Mallam!
Be right there.
I come.
You got it lying down already?
You got it lying down?
Watch your foot!
That will be 40 naira.
Who does this one belong to? Bayo, pay please.
I have the money.
You have to pay immediately.
Don't ask me, I can pay you.
I've always paid.
Sometimes you make problems.