#19 - Who Needs Sleep?

Directed by Haskell Wexler
2006 Documentary
Not Rated

*** 1/2

This documentary, directed by legendary cinematographer Haskell Wexler (Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, In the Heat of the Night, Bound for Glory, etc.) attempts to expose the sweat-shop like conditions the majority of the film industry works under. And he's not talking about the actors; he's talking about the cameramen, the electricians, the grips. All the people who, during a movie shoot, are working an average of 15-hour days, seven days a week. A documentary should always be as impartial as possible, and this clearly isn't, but Wexler is so honest and up-front about what he believes in, and it's such a good cause, that it's easy to overlook that. The only real flaws of the film are that at times it feels a lot like one of those videos you watched on a slow day in high school; i.e. there are times it feels very cheaply made (which it was) and cheesy (which it often is). But other than that, this is a very intriguing look into the horrible conditions much of the film industry has to work under, as well as a call to arms to change it.