Directed by:
Pier-Philippe ChevignyScreenplay:
Pier-Philippe ChevignyCast:
Ariane Castellanos, Marc-André Grondin, Ève Duranceau, Marc Beaupré, Hubert Proulx, Micheline Bernard, Émile Schneider, Marvin CoroyPlots(1)
As she faces bankruptcy after going through a sticky breakup, Ariane, a young Latina women from Quebec is hired as a translator from French to Spanish at a can factory, that employs 42 temp workers from Guatemala. When one of them falls ill, Ariane will take a stand against the system and defend the migrant workers against the abuses to which they are subjected. (Los Cabos International Film Festival)
(more)Reviews (2)
Before watching this film, I had no idea that even in North America, there are places where a Western power exploits people from poorer Latin American countries. What's even worse is that despite this exploitation, Canada is genuinely dependent on these workers for its food supply. This is an incredibly timely and important topic that I hope every Canadian recognizes, though realistically, it will likely only be admired by viewers who can't do much to change the situation. Ariane Castellanos delivered a fantastic performance, and the final scene convinced me that even in these grim conditions, there is still something we can call humanity.
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Temporaries is a devastating social drama about a group of Guatemalan labourers who are repeatedly imported into a Canadian food factory without knowing their rights and working conditions, and are thus grossly exploited to the point of physical breakdown in a poorly thought-out and unjust system that eventually beats down everyone, including not only the suffering workers, but also their callous Canadian employers, who must meet quotas and are existentially dependent on cheap labour. The whole issue is seen from the perspective of a sympathetic interpreter who is the only one to see the workers as individuals, while also being aware of the other side’s problems, which makes the film powerfully empathetic without sliding into moralising judgments. The strong plot based on a topical and socially important issue further benefits from its gradual build-up of intensity and emotional conclusion.
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