An inferno of sound and images from an Indian textile factory’s dark heart in the blind spot of globalization. The machines are rumbling like furious, choleric giants in an inferno of noise, chemicals and work routines. The Indian director Rahul Jain leads us right into the dark heart of a textile factory in a film, which in the spirit of the revolutionary ‘Leviathan’ subsumes both our eyes and our senses. But the boundary between humans and machines still remains, and Jain’s critique of the inhumane conditions should make an impression on anyone who buys clothes as cheaply as possible. A union leader speaks about solidarity on behalf of everyone, while the factory’s boss repeats the neoliberal lesson about global supply and demand, where the responsibility ultimately lies with the buyer – namely us. ‘Machines’ is an ambitious and modern political opus by a cultural insider, who makes maximum use of the film medium’s potential and puts us in the shoes of workers, which documentaries usually observe from a distance. (CPH:DOX)