You are the salt of the earth. If salt loses its strength, how do you make it salty? It is useless for nothing, but to throw it out to trample people (Matthew 5:13). Perhaps it was not for nothing that the director of this film, G. Bieberman, decided to name his film after a line from the Gospel. If we open the fifth chapter of the Gospel of Matthew, we immediately come across the Sermon on the Mount of Jesus Christ, in which he utters these lines, addressing the people: “Blessed are those who weep, for they will be comforted.” Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for truth, for they shall be satisfied. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. Blessed are the exiled for righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. In line 13, Jesus refers to the people as the “salt of the earth,” which describes the meaning of this saying: “You are the salt of the earth.” If salt loses its strength, how do you make it salty? It is useless for nothing, how to throw it out to trample people.” These lines have both a call for resilience and a promise of justice.
The film, which was made at the height of McCarthyism, tells not only about the struggle of workers to improve material conditions, but also about the struggle for dignity and respect. Despite the fact that the film was shot in the conservative 1950s, the problems raised in the film (not only the struggle of workers for better living conditions, but also the issue of women’s emancipation) are still relevant today.
No wonder the film is told on behalf of a woman - the wife of the main character, who is called Esperanza. The film shows the “female share” that fell on the shoulders of Esperanza, namely to be the wife of a simple miner of Mexican origin and a mother of many children, living in a poor shack (even though this shack does not belong to them, but a corporation), in the American province. The distinction is made between workers of Anglo-Saxon and Mexican descent. The former live in much better conditions and have access to hot water in their homes, while Mexican workers are forced to live without this blessing of civilization and constantly boil their water. The film in all its glory presents a picture of the conditions in which ordinary workers in the American outback, like New Mexico, were forced to live.
The husband of the main character, Ramon, despite the fact that he sincerely loves his wife, is still full of prejudice against the female gender, which becomes one of the central moments of the film.
Under these conditions, Mexican workers decide to organize a strike demanding better living conditions (so that they at least have hot water, like Anglo-Saxon workers). However, the mine owners do not want to make concessions to the Mexicans and forbid workers to strike. Then women come to the place of striking men – their wives, who decide not to remain indifferent, but independently join the fight. At this point, one of the film's conflicts is revealed. Miners are very patriarchal and at first do not want to let their wives go on strike. And it is from this (with Esperanza’s campaign to strike) that her “awakening” begins. Meanwhile, men begin to master new “female” roles in the form of “keepers of the hearth”, while their wives struggle to improve their lives.
This film perfectly shows how through the struggle for “hot water” begins to raise awareness for their own respect and dignity (as it happens in the example of Esperanza), and there is a rethinking of old concepts (on the example of Ramon).
It is also important to remember in what conditions the director had to create his film, namely that the shooting took place with great difficulties, since politicians and figures of the film industry in every possible way prevented the creation of the project.
Despite the fact that the film could not be released, due to the prevailing atmosphere of McCarthyism and the “witch hunt”, it still found its audience at union meetings and fell in love with American workers. And since the theme of the struggle for the improvement of living conditions is still relevant today, this also makes the film relevant today.
8 out of 10