After Work

"A thought-provoking film that looks at the phenomenon of work in the 21st century with the razor sharp X-ray vision and equally sharp humour. From Kuwait to Korea, from the US to Europe, and from nine to five."

2023 1h 21m EN

😐

6.4

MID

⭐

6.9

IMDB

★6.4TMDB · 8★6.9IMDB · 445

Documentary

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Kuwait’s constitution says that every person has the right to a job, so in some places 20 people are employed for one person’s job. In South Korea, they work so much that a policy has been introduced to turn off computers at the end of the day so that employees can’t work any more. In the US, they give up over 500 million holiday hours each year, while Amazon’s drivers are trying to form a union. Meanwhile, robots are poised to take over most jobs and put the rest of us out of work. Work is so crucial to our identity and what we spend our waking hours on that it is barely noticed anymore. A lot has happened since a group of Puritan priests invented the concept of work ethic in the 1600s, and in the 21st century the very concept of work is in many ways disintegrating. A perfect situation for a filmmaker like Swedish mastermind Erik Gandini, who travels the world to explore what the concept of work means today – if it means anything at all.

“A thought-provoking film that looks at the phenomenon of work in the 21st century with the razor sharp X-ray vision and equally sharp humour. From Kuwait to Korea, from the US to Europe, and from nine to five.”

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Cast

Noam Chomsky
Self
Yánis Varoufákis
Self

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Erik Gandini
Languages: Korean, English, Italian
Countries: Finland, Italy, Norway, Sweden

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

RUNTIME

Did you know

81 minutes exactly — the "classic feature" runtime most directors aim for.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Released 3 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 3 languages: Korean, English, Italian.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

International production across 4 countries: Finland, Italy, Norway, Sweden.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Lean credit list — fewer than 30 people officially credited.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Erik Gandini, shot by Fredrik Wenzel. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Christoffer Berg. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Johan Söderberg shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Erik Gandini directs. Fredrik Wenzel behind the camera. Christoffer Berg scores. Johan Söderberg cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Produced in Finland, Italy, Norway, Sweden. Dialogue in Korean, English, Italian.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

181 minutes exactly — the "classic feature" runtime most directors aim for.
2Released 3 years ago.
3Dialogue crosses 3 languages: Korean, English, Italian.
4International production across 4 countries: Finland, Italy, Norway, Sweden.
5Lean credit list — fewer than 30 people officially credited.
6Directed by Erik Gandini, shot by Fredrik Wenzel. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
7Original score by Christoffer Berg. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
8Editor Johan Söderberg shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
9Noam Chomsky and Yánis Varoufákis carry the top of the cast.
10Marketing tagline: "A thought-provoking film that looks at the phenomenon of work in the 21st century with the razor sharp X-ray vision and equally sharp humour. From Kuwait to Korea, from the US to Europe, and from nine to five.".
11IMDB entry: tt10400026 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
12Only 8 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.