Our Daily Bread

It is great. Not because of the subject or because I'm so interested in the food processing industry.(I'm really not) It is great because it ask and answer some really new things about documentary.

If not new,"different" in the best possible interpretation of the word. No talking, that means no interview or voice over. No editing tricks,just perfect efficient shots, one after the other. Forget the angry guy behind the camera or the microphone who really wants to not only show but persuade you. Forget the radio-documentary, here come the images-documentary. If you liked Depardon's documentary, if you like photography, if you are tired of Mickael Moore, if you don't think you need to be told what to think when you can just see it, there is a movie for you.

Its a lot more than a documentary about food industry as far as I'm concern, its about backing up and trying to get " a bigger picture"

MAc

The quality of the this film, how it focuses on the various aspects of large and highly advanced agricultural processes used in Europe is very interesting and seems to include a great amount of detail in the various processes that result in the meat and vegetables that are destined to show up on people's dinner tables. From feeding beef cattle to harvesting Irish potatoes we get fine quality shots that include so much information both close-up and deep shots. Most of us are so distanced from how our food is produced. Most producers I would imagine don't really want to let us in on what goes on before the products shows up in our market showcase. The candidness of the images that show the operations where the food is grown and processed is great. I bet that few food producers in the U.S would allow such filming in the establishments

The recent film "Fast Food Nation" imposes a fictional narrative onto the factual expose of Eric Schlosser's informative and horrifying book about (among other things) the industrialization of agriculture. The documentary "Our Daily Bread" makes no such concession to its audience's need for story, presenting virtually wordlessly scene after scene of modern food production in action.

It's a cliché at this point to note how modern consumers are alienated from their diets, making no connection between the plastic-wrapped pieces of muscle they purchase in the supermarket and the animals they were once part of. Still, Austrian director Nikolaus Geyrhalter presents dozens of memorable and fascinating images, not all of them of the gross-out variety. In fact, there's even an abstract beauty to some of what we see, at least until we realize it's all part of a vast killing machine.

Difficult to sit through, "Our Daily Bread" is nonetheless an important record, invaluable for those with the courage to watch it.

Don't watch this movie if you have bad stomach or you won't be able to eat for a while. It shows quite a bit of shocking footage of modern food processing facilities. Dehumanization of food processing is well shown by creative camera placement. Camera placement resembles Kubrick's in some scenes - scenes of machines and people moving through corridors. Some of machines and procedures shown in the movie are really shocking. Movie doesn't have any narration, only sounds that you hear are sounds of the environment. A bit of well picked music would make this movie even better. If you want to know how the food you eat comes to your table this is the movie to watch.

The movie is a stunning visual documentary of modern day food production. There is no dialog - just visuals (with sound).

The video is taken from food production facilities in Europe. With the growth of the worldwide population, it is fascinating to see how streamlined (and a bit "freaky") food production has become. It's almost like watching factory assembly lines punching out one "widget" after another.

Sometimes it's disturbing to watch because the "widgets" are live animals or carcasses. These scenes made me really think about population expansion - it's very unsettling to think about how much this type of food production will have to be escalated to feed the growing masses.

If you are intrigued by mass production processes of basic vegetable and meat food supplies, this is a great film to see. It's a visual diary of the processes involved.