BERLINALE 2020 - Automotive
70th BERLINALE FILM FESTIVAL © Jonas HeldtConceived and directed by Jonas Heldt, Automotive is a surprisingly clever documentary which is both structurally and narratively lean. It is packed with rich and relevant commentary about the state of the global economy and its potential future trajectory. However, the filmmakers manage to do so without interceding with off-screen narration, and other sorts of manipulative techniques. Instead, they let their subjects do all the talking.
Accordingly, Automotive is narratively anchored around two key characters: Sedanur, a young factory worker, and Eva, an ambitious, high-flying head-hunter. Both women work for Audi, and although they are separated by their professional capacities and the scale of their aspirations, they are connected through worrying about the precarious future of their employment. This is because – while corporate irresponsibility, immigration, outsourcing and other known routes of job dispersal are widely discussed – their jobs may one day be rendered completely obsolete by the impending arrival of artificial intelligence and automation.
This is where the film truly shines. It uses its own structure to illustrate this process. The scenes where Sedanur and Eva open up about their insecurities and dreams are interspersed with initially very short and sparse inserts of automated assembly lines and self-driving forklifts. As the narrative unfolds and the viewers become more invested in the subjects’ respective dramas, Heldt breaks up the flow of the story more aggressively and more frequently with imagery of AI-assisted vehicles performing their tasks with surgical precision. The eerie serenity of human-free manufacturing is used as a tonal counterpoint to the devastating realism of unemployment. It portrays the effort to stay afloat and navigate the treacherous and unforgiving waters of the modern job market. Ever so slowly, it ends up saturating the film and claiming the limelight.
It is as though Heldt was trying to use his entire film as a cinematic rendition of a well-known metaphor about a frog and a pot of water. For instance, Sedanur’s odyssey from being laid off as a temp worker to qualifying as forklift operator, and succeeding in finding permanent employment, is completely re-contextualized. It is tainted with the sudden realisation that all the successes and achievements will count for nought one day. The technological advancement hangs over the current curve of the entire global economy by a thread, like a giant sword of Damocles, and eventually, the thread will snap. This gives the entire film a noticeably acrid quality, which is perhaps intended to serve as an equivalent to smelling salts in boxing. The movie is meant to arouse the collective consciousness of its viewership, and draw their attention to an impending industrial revolution which will inevitably and irreversibly change the way the production process has been.
Having said that, Automotive isn’t necessarily a call to arms or an activist piece defending the current ways of life. The filmmakers seem perfectly aware these changes will happen sooner or later. What they want the viewers to take home is awareness of this process, which is already well underway, gaining momentum and – like an out-of-control train – cannot be stopped without significant upheaval. They make these astute observations with appropriate subtlety, clean filmmaking techniques and – most importantly – by allowing their fascinating subjects to drive their narration and points across.
