Original Article: Le matin de paris, mar. 30, 1977
by Dominique Dubosc
The « Lip Affair » seen from the inside, lived again on the screen by those who fought the decisive battles we know : the occupation of the factory, the « hostage taking » of the stock of watches, the self-organisation of the struggle, the workers starting production again, the most illegal « workers’ pay ».
Seen from the inside, what we knew (by television, radio, newspapers) seems derisory indeed. Those who talk on television (ministers of State, the Government envoy, the big shots of the national Unions) they only talk… Here, things really happen. Here, time is counted, in the General Assemblies, the hallways, the cafeterias, the workshops, within and without the factory, up to Hollande where the LIP lesson is taught by songs and shows.
The camera doesn’t privilege anyone. No interviews, only public declarations. The « taste for collective action » takes precedence on intimacy or revelations. One readily understands what the author wanted to avoid : the epic lyrisme ofPotemkine, or even the emotion that could have resulted by an identification with a particular leader or worker in struggle. He avoided this by always keeping to his subject.
The Taste for Collective Action is an honest film.