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IMDbPro

The Take

  • 20042004
  • UnratedUnrated
  • 1h 27m
IMDb RATING
7.6/10
1.2K
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
233,546
38,974
The Take (2004)
Documentary
In the wake of Argentina's economics collapse of 2001, factory workers break into abandoned factories and restart production. Could these pioneers of cooperative ownership be a model for reb... Read allIn the wake of Argentina's economics collapse of 2001, factory workers break into abandoned factories and restart production. Could these pioneers of cooperative ownership be a model for rebuilding Argentina's economy?In the wake of Argentina's economics collapse of 2001, factory workers break into abandoned factories and restart production. Could these pioneers of cooperative ownership be a model for rebuilding Argentina's economy?
IMDb RATING
7.6/10
1.2K
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
233,546
38,974
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Director
      • Avi Lewis
    • Writer
      • Naomi Klein
    • Stars
      • Matilde Adorno
      • Michel Camadessus
      • Bill Clinton(archive footage)
    Top credits
    • Director
      • Avi Lewis
    • Writer
      • Naomi Klein
    • Stars
      • Matilde Adorno
      • Michel Camadessus
      • Bill Clinton(archive footage)
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 16User reviews
    • 27Critic reviews
    • 66Metascore
  • See production, box office & company info
    • Awards
      • 1 win & 5 nominations

    Photos

    The Take (2004)
    The Take (2004)
    The Take (2004)
    The Take (2004)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Matilde Adorno
    • Self - Worker
    Michel Camadessus
    • Self
    Bill Clinton
    Bill Clinton
    • Self
    • (archive footage)
    Gustavo Cordera
    • Self (singer)
    • (as Bersuit)
    Freddy Espinoza
    • Self (president of La Forja)
    Raul Godoy
    • Self
    Néstor Kirchner
    Néstor Kirchner
    • Self
    Naomi Klein
    Naomi Klein
    • Self (also narrator)
    Avi Lewis
    Avi Lewis
    • Self (also narrator)
    Celia Martinez
    • Self
    Carlos Saúl Menem
    • Self
    • (as Carlos Menem)
    Lalo Paret
    • Self (activist)
    Juan Domingo Perón
    Juan Domingo Perón
    • Self
    • (archive footage)
    Jorge Rimondi
    • Self (Judge)
    Anoop Singh
    • Self (Director of the IMF's Western Hemisphere Department)
    Luis Zamara
    • Self
    Luis Zanón
    • Self
    • Director
      • Avi Lewis
    • Writer
      • Naomi Klein
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

    Edit

    User reviews16

    Review
    Review
    Top review
    Raises More Questions than it Answers
    The collapse of Argentina's peso in 2001 threw millions out of work and plunged what had been one of Latin America's most prosperous countries in the 1990s into the kind of economic depression not seen in the United States since the 1930s. Four years later thousands of ruined businesses remain closed. In a handful of cases, though, workers occupied and reopened shut factories, health clinics, and schools as employee-owned and operated- cooperatives.

    How Argentine workers did this is a terrific story. Unfortunately, "The Take", a film directed and narrated by anti-globalization activists Naomi Klein and Avi Lewis raises more questions than it answers.

    According to Klein and Lewis, Argentine workers now run more than 200 companies employing 15,000 people. To explain how this happened, the movie documents a campaign by unemployed machinists to put a casting parts plant back in business. Along the way, we see examples of other successful cooperatives, including a shop of seamstresses, a ceramic tile manufacturer, and a tractor factory.

    The new worker owners featured in "The Take" are earnest and enthusiastic. They are especially moving when describing the effects of years of unemployment and how their lives have improved for the better after returning to work. No one, though, tells us basic facts about these companies, such as whether wages and benefits have gone up or down under cooperatives, how the worker-owned companies pay for their raw materials, who buys their products, and if they make a profit. These are not idle points, as any owner – Argentine worker or multinational plutocrat -- knows.

    How does the "The Take" fill up its time? In between interviews with cooperative members about the glories of worker control we get lectures about the lack of differences among candidates in the 2003 Argentine presidential election, the pointlessness of voting, and the failings of the International Monetary Fund. We're also treated to a long slow motion sequence of a street riot in Buenos Aires – complete with Mercedes Sosa soundtrack -- that depicts heroic workers and the equally heroic Klein and Lewis calling each other on their cell phones.

    There's a good documentary to be made about what has happened to Argentina's economy and its workers. Klein and Lewis, however, take the easy way out and give us slogans and mushy analysis that leave the audience skeptical and suspicious.

    4/10
    helpful•11
    16
    • pdx3525
    • Mar 13, 2005

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • March 18, 2005 (Italy)
    • Countries of origin
      • Canada
      • Argentina
    • Official sites
      • 2-1-0 Films (Greece)
      • Official site
    • Languages
      • English
      • Spanish
    • Also known as
      • Захват
    • Filming locations
      • Buenos Aires, Federal District, Argentina
    • Production companies
      • Barna-Alper Productions
      • Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC)
      • Klein Lewis Productions
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Gross US & Canada
      • $30,380
    • Opening weekend US & Canada
      • $8,625
      • Sep 26, 2004
    • Gross worldwide
      • $30,380
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

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    • Runtime
      1 hour 27 minutes
    • Color
      • Color

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