Rent The Working Class Goes to Heaven (1971)
3.7 of 5 from 74 ratings
1h 55min
- General info
- Available formats
- Synopsis:
Gian Maria Volonté (A Fistful of Dollars) stars in one of provocative filmmaker Elio (Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion) Petri's most politically charged films as factory worker Lulu: a man on the verge of a nervous breakdown, following an accident at work. Too tired to sleep with his girlfriend, cut out of his son's life by his ex, humiliated and disrespected, 'The Working Class Go to Heaven' is an oftentimes surreal and darkly comic look at the life of an everyday Italian trying to find a sense of purpose in a world where he is only allowed to be a tool for industry. A savage takedown of capitalism and industrial corruption, the film was recipient of the prestigious Cannes Film Festival Palme d'Or and features a gloriously unhinged, award-winning performance from Volonté, accompanied by an exceptional score by Ennio Morricone and stunning cinematography by Luigi Kuveiller (Deep Red). - Actors:
- Gian Maria Volontè, Mariangela Melato, Gino Pernice, Luigi Diberti, Donato Castellaneta, Giuseppe Fortis, Corrado Solari, Flavio Bucci, Luigi Uzzo, Giovanni Bignamini, Ezio Marano, Adriano Amidei Migliano, Antonio Mangano, Lorenzo Magnolia, Federico Scrobogna, Guerrino Crivello, Alberto Fogliani, Carla Mancini, Orazio Stracuzzi, Marisa Rossi
- Directors:
- Elio Petri
- Producers:
- Ugo Tucci
- Writers:
- Elio Petri, Ugo Pirro
- Aka:
- La Classe Operaia Va In Paradiso / Lulu the Tool
- Genres:
- Classics, Drama
- Countries:
- Italy
- Awards:
- BBFC:
- Release Date:
- 02/01/2023
- Run Time:
- 115 minutes
- Languages:
- Italian LPCM Mono
- Subtitles:
- English
- Formats:
- Pal
- Aspect Ratio:
- Widescreen 1.85:1
- Colour:
- Colour
- BLU-RAY Regions:
- B
- Bonus:
- Archival interview with Elio Petri from the Cannes Film Festival
- Career-encompassing archival Interview with Gian Maria Volonte from French TV
- Archival interview with actor Corrado Solari
- Appreciation of Gian Maria Volontd and the film by filmmaker Alex Cox
- Petri's Praxis - Ideology and Cinema in Postwar Italy: A visual essay by scholar Matthew Kowalski on Petri's relationship with left-wing politics and its impact on his cinema
- The Working Class Goes to Heaven - Background to a Film Shot in Novara (Serena Checcucci and Enrico Omodeo Said, 2006): An unconventional making of documentary, exploring the real life factory location where the film was shot and the story behind the film's production there, as told by the staff, film extras, and crew
- Trailer
More like The Working Class Goes to Heaven
Found in these customers lists
Reviews (2) of The Working Class Goes to Heaven
Piecework, Panic, and a Missing Finger - The Working Class Goes to Heaven review by griggs
The first thing you feel is the rhythm: the line’s relentless clatter, the stopwatch tyranny, the sense that your nerves have been put on piecework. Petri doesn’t argue his politics — he makes you breathe them.
Lulù Massa starts out as the factory’s star turn, chasing bonuses like they’re oxygen. He’s proud, competitive, almost flirtatious with the machine. Then the machine takes payment — a finger — and the swagger drains away. What follows isn’t a clean awakening so much as a wobble: anger, fear, self-interest, and the occasional burst of clarity, all jostling for space.
Meanwhile, everyone wants to claim him. Management leans on him, the unions want him in line, the student agitators want a symbol. The megaphones become the film’s metronome, speeches turning into background noise you can’t switch off.
Gian Maria Volonté plays Lulù like exposed wiring: manic speed, sudden stutters, panic in the eyes. Morricone’s score nags and loops like an anxious pulse. And when Lulù lists himself as parts — bolt, belt, pump — it lands as the bleakest punchline imaginable. Bruising, funny, and uncomfortably alive.
1 out of 1 members found this review helpful.
Tiring to watch - The Working Class Goes to Heaven review by RD
This film covers the life of an angry factory worker, chronicling his run-ins with both his colleagues and bosses. There's consistent shouting throughout the film which gets tiring, and any story was lost as we both nodded off during this film.
It's a struggle portrayed in the film, and also to remain watching it.
We backed out of it near to the end as we'd had enough, and switched to something easier to watch.
0 out of 4 members found this review helpful.