Machines review – piercing portrait of India's textile industry

Rahul Jain’s brief, fierce documentary feature Machines is about the people who work in the textile factories of Gujurat, India. Its images often have the mystery and potency of a dream. Jain’s work reminded me of the Austrian documentarian Nikolaus Geyrhalter; at other times, I found myself thinking of Chaplin twitching on the production line in Modern Times. The title is well chosen. The bodies of the workers look naked and vulnerable, and yet they have become part of the machines, part of the process. The relentless rhythms of the work are captured. It looks soul-destroying – particularly in one grim shot of a boy almost falling asleep while doing some mind-crushingly repetitive task. Later, another is shown asleep on top of piles of cloth, which look almost like his shroud. The workers are interviewed and they are candid, without self-pity. “Poverty is harassment, sir,” says one. “You must forsake your wife and kids to come here.” Another talks about the danger workers put themselves in when they set themselves up as union organisers – and actually looks over his shoulder, clearly fearing assault at that very moment. Meanwhile, an utterly heartless factory boss says that paying someone more than the bare minimum encourages laziness. And it is this industry that supplies the west with a lot of its reasonably priced clothes. A sombre, relevant piece of work.