Synopsis
The immense Polish tractor factory Ursus was dismantled during the fall of the Soviet Union. With the active complicity of the men and women who worked there, Jaśmina Wójcik undertook the somewhat crazy project of a production that draws inspiration from musical comedy, Russian cinema, and opera.
A word from Tënk
Symphony of the Ursus Factory is an ode to the working class that is full of human spirit and the most humane elements of industry. Director Jaśmina Wójcik assembles workers, mechanics, engineers, and administrators from the now-defunct Ursus Factory, which produced agricultural machinery before the collapse of Communism. She leads the ensemble of working class artists in a documentary performance piece that sees them return to the scene of their former jobs and resurrect the routines of their daily labour, but without the machines. There are grand movements as the workers pantomime the processes of their former jobs while creating the sounds of the daily grind.
The camera glides around the workers to find poetry in the lyrical movements of their labour. The film is a symphony of manmade whirs, clicks, and clanks. Devoid of any functional machinery, save for a wonderful ballet of tractors, Symphony of the Ursus Factory gets the last laugh on industrialization as people outlive the machines. Documentaries like Symphony of the Ursus Factory are a rare variety, but like the grandest of musicals, they’re a delight that excites the mind, heart, and senses.
Pat Mullen
Publisher, POV Magazine
