Les hommes de la montre (1964)

Overview

Does man serve the machine or vice versa? This question is at the center of this astonishing commissioned film. We meet a man named Albert Bernet, who lives on a remote farm in the Val de Travers. He is passionate about two professions: Farmer and watchmaker. In 1960, he was one of the dying breed of so-called “peasant-watchmakers” – home workers who were slowly but surely being displaced by factory workers. The production of the film was commissioned by the watch company Ebauches S.A. This makes the director all the more daring as he paints a bleak picture of the new work processes in the precision industry.

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