Adapted from the short story “Deer in the works” by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr, written in 1955. This film is about David Potter (Dennis Dugan) who was admitted to Ilium Works employment office hoping to land a writing job. Running his own small newspaper was too insecure now that the twin girls were born. After a preliminary interview and physical, he was hired and sent through the deafening noise and ceaseless activity of the huge, maze-like industrial complex to Lou Flammer in publicity. A story was already waiting for him: a deer was loose in the Works. But the confusion of endless buildings and labs, the faceless people and the elusiveness of the deer made David’s search for the story fruitless - until he saw a mob armed with sticks and shovels chasing the small, frightened deer. His course of action was clear: David opened the gate leading to the nearby wood. The deer bolted out…and David Potter followed. he didn’t look back. Includes themes of alienation and anonymity in modern society.
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Collection
In ACMI's collection
Credits
Collection metadata
ACMI Identifier
014932
Language
English
Subject categories
Agriculture, Business, Commerce & Industry → Employment
Agriculture, Business, Commerce & Industry → Industrial sociology
Agriculture, Business, Commerce & Industry → Industrialization
Agriculture, Business, Commerce & Industry → Work environment
Economics, Philosophy, Politics, Religion & Sociology → Social conflict
Economics, Philosophy, Politics, Religion & Sociology → Social isolation
Family, Gender Identity, Relationships & Sexuality → Alienation (Social psychology)
Family, Gender Identity, Relationships & Sexuality → Social isolation
Food, Health, Lifestyle, Medicine, Psychology & Safety → Alienation (Social psychology)
Food, Health, Lifestyle, Medicine, Psychology & Safety → Psychology, Industrial
Food, Health, Lifestyle, Medicine, Psychology & Safety → Responsibility
Food, Health, Lifestyle, Medicine, Psychology & Safety → Security (Psychology)
History → Civilization, Modern - 20th century
Literature → American literature - Film and video adaptations
Sound/audio
Sound
Colour
Colour
Holdings
16mm film; Limited Access Print (Section 2)
16mm film; Access Print (Section 1)
16mm film; Preservation Print (Section 5)