This is an interesting documentary that lacks context. Seeing life in the Serbian and Suriname mines is helpful, but to have so little explained is simply withholding. I was left to wonder why they started working there in the first place, why they didn't take alternate routes, if there were any alternate routes, and what their home lives were like. The best answers I recall were that the Serbians wanted to pay for the children's education and the Surinamese didn't want their wives to work, especially as a prostitute.
As far as entertainment goes, I found Act I to be mostly a dull-fest. I'll explain why below.
Act II, on the other hand, shines in this regard. Not only is there more discussed between the workers, there's more debt to the conversations. There's even a song. We learn so much more of them. It's as if they were of a culture that allowed them to be lively and vulnerable. The difference between how the Surinamese joked, talked, and embraced one another compared to the Serbians was stark. This could very easily be attributed to the environment both groups work in. A grey, dusty mine does not feed the soul as well as a colorful forest slowly being drowned in a copper-brown muck.
To watch Good Luck is to observe two separate peoples in their daily work rituals. Yes, it's mostly mundane, especially Act I. But if you want to see what it's like to work in those environments, this might be the film for you.
Entertainment-wise, Act I gets 3/5 and Act II gets 4.5/5.
I must say, though, the method used to signify the transition between the two acts was creatively blunt. Tip: Close an eye.
Side Note: I watched this at the 41st Denver Film Festival, where it was in some way or another compared to Zachary Fink and Alyssa Fedele's The Rescue List (5/5 stars). While they both have similarities when it comes to class and opportunity, I feel like Daniel Carbone's Phantom Cowboys (5/5) is the younger twin of Ben Russell's Good Luck.
As far as entertainment goes, I found Act I to be mostly a dull-fest. I'll explain why below.
Act II, on the other hand, shines in this regard. Not only is there more discussed between the workers, there's more debt to the conversations. There's even a song. We learn so much more of them. It's as if they were of a culture that allowed them to be lively and vulnerable. The difference between how the Surinamese joked, talked, and embraced one another compared to the Serbians was stark. This could very easily be attributed to the environment both groups work in. A grey, dusty mine does not feed the soul as well as a colorful forest slowly being drowned in a copper-brown muck.
To watch Good Luck is to observe two separate peoples in their daily work rituals. Yes, it's mostly mundane, especially Act I. But if you want to see what it's like to work in those environments, this might be the film for you.
Entertainment-wise, Act I gets 3/5 and Act II gets 4.5/5.
I must say, though, the method used to signify the transition between the two acts was creatively blunt. Tip: Close an eye.
Side Note: I watched this at the 41st Denver Film Festival, where it was in some way or another compared to Zachary Fink and Alyssa Fedele's The Rescue List (5/5 stars). While they both have similarities when it comes to class and opportunity, I feel like Daniel Carbone's Phantom Cowboys (5/5) is the younger twin of Ben Russell's Good Luck.