From Wharf Rats to Lords of the Docks

«From Wharf Rats to Lords of the Docks» is one of the last documentaries directed by Haskell Wexler (1922-2015), the renowned Jewish-American cinematographer who shot such classics as «One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest», «The Conversation» AND «Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?», for which he won his first Oscar.

It is no news to anyone that Wexler was a liberal activist, who was never lacking in accusations of being radical, communist, or rebellious, for addressing issues that were not liked by the Los Angeles film industry, such as poverty, racism, civil riots, the wars in Vietnam and Central America, the assassinations of leaders, and other controversial facts in the United States. It is consistent, therefore, that Wexler was drawn to the life of socialist and anti-fascist folk singer-songwriter Woody Guthrie (in «Bound for Glory», for which he won his second Oscar for photography); or that of the prominent Australian trade unionist and labor leader Harry Bridges, who was a key figure in the creation of the North American port unions.

The result was the entertaining film «From Wharf Rats to Lords of the Docks» (2007). The starting point was playwright and actor Ian Ruskin's monologue, a funny and fast-paced retelling of the activist's life, which Bridges himself (played by Ruskin) recounts to the audience. Always with a high spirit, humor and irony, Bridges recounts incidents and anecdotes of his life, reads letters, press releases and court verdicts, in which he gives an account of the almost three decades in which influential figures in North American political and economic scenes tried to deport him, for his defense of the six-hour work schedule, better wages, the defense of the right to work of African-Americans, labor participation in the contracts. And other achievements.

Wexler filmed the performance of the monologue at the Warner Grand Theater in San Pedro, California; and illustrated various moments with photos, films clips, and a couple of re-enactments of Bridges' meetings with dockworkers. In just 78 minutes, Wexler, Ruskin, and the assembled team, with the songs of Pete Seeger, performed by Jackson Browne, the Guthries (Woody, Arlo, and Sarah), David Mora, Ciro Hurtado and Tim Reynolds, tell us with simplicity and wit a chapter of the organization of the workers of the world for labor dignity and raising their standard of living.