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Our Daily Bread

Where to Watch Our Daily Bread

NR
2005

Our Daily Bread is an influential documentary directed by Nikolaus Geyrhalter and released in the year 2005. The film features Claus Hansen Petz, Arkadiusz Rydellek, and Barbara Hinz, who are part-time workers, while the lesser-known heroes of our global food production process. While it doesn't employ any conventional storytelling techniques or even narration, the film is a poignant commentary on modern food production.

Our Daily Bread reveals the surprising, and often shocking, realities of our industrialized food production process. The movie commences with revealing a giant greenhouse teeming with tomato plants. Instead of soil, these plants lace up in a cocoon of insulating material, watered and nurtured through a series of pipes and tubes.

However, the film swiftly transitions from the tranquil shush of irrigation to the chaotic hum of gigantic machines, starkly contrasting the pastoral images we often associate with farming. Geyrhalter unflinchingly showcases the antiseptic, mechanical worlds where our food is industrially produced, which seems eerily removed from everyday human experience.

An unforgettable scene involving Claus Hansen Petz is the rhythmic and automated slaughter and processing of pigs. It brings forth a squeamish unease that highlights the disconnect between the consumer and the product they consume. While there is no explicit commentary or dialog, the visuals on their own present a powerful narrative on the modern-day food cycle.

Interestingly, the film underscores the role of humans in these mechanized environments. Both Arkadiusz Rydellek and Barbara Hinz offer the audience quiet moments of reflection as they interact with their surroundings, often taking breaks amidst seemingly infinite fields of crops or enormous machineries. Their presence is a subtle reminder of the human element, though largely overwhelmed by the juggernaut of industrial production, still a part of this process.

Despite its ostensibly repetitive narrative of various food processing units, Our Daily Bread maintains a gravitating intrigue throughout its length, tactfully using slow-motion sequences. The visuals are no less than an astounding work of cinematography – beautifully lit and meticulously composed. It offers a stark look at food safety standards, animal welfare, and the role that commercialism plays in global food markets – all without uttering a single word.

In essence, Our Daily Bread serves as a thought-provoking exploration of our global food industry, revealing the far-reaching, and often overlooked, industrial apparatus that encompasses nearly every part of our food chain. It's a sometimes distressing, often hypnotic, and always insightful look into the impersonal, mechanized processes that feed the world – and our relationship with them.

Far from witnessing the conventional happy farm animals grazing in verdant pastures, Our Daily Bread portrays the mechanics of food production as an unromantic sequence of planting, harvesting, slaughtering, and packaging. The documentary undoubtedly forces the viewer to question the ethics, sustainability, and the true price of our daily sustenance.

All in all, Geyrhalter's documentary, Our Daily Bread, imposes a sobering educational value without pushing a particular agenda. For those interested in the broader understanding of food production, or those who wish to foster a deeper sense of respect for what ends up on their plate, this film is a must-watch. It's a profoundly impactful film without resorting to commentary or specific argument points - it achieves this through the stark unveiling of what's behind the scenes in our modern agriculture: an interplay between humans, animals, and machines, resulting in what you may call the most fundamental human necessity, our daily bread. While it's not a traditional movie per se, it's certainly an innovative and gripping documentary that opens your eyes to the realities of the global food industry.

Our Daily Bread is a Documentary movie released in 2005. It has a runtime of 92 minutes Critics and viewers have rated it moderate reviews, with an IMDb score of 7.6. It also holds a MetaScore of 86.

How to Watch Our Daily Bread

Where can I stream Our Daily Bread movie online? Our Daily Bread is available to watch and stream, buy on demand, download at Kanopy, Apple TV, Amazon. Some platforms allow you to rent Our Daily Bread for a limited time or purchase the movie for downloading.

7.6/10
86/100
Director
Nikolaus Geyrhalter