The Organizer

Workers rise at 5:30 AM and head to a Turin textile factory. The long, grueling hours begin to define their day and foreshadow the conflicts to come. The opening scene establishes the harsh conditions of late-19th-century industrial labor.

Fatigue mounts as the day wears on and ends around 8:30 PM. A drowsy worker’s hand is mangled by a machine, underscoring the danger of exhaustion. The accident catalyzes the workers’ push for better working conditions.

Pautasso, Martinetti, and Cesarina form an ad hoc committee to press management to shorten the 14-hour day by one hour. They make a concrete case linking safety to fair labor practices. Management responds with admonishments rather than concessions.

The workers try to stage a walkout an hour early to prove their resolve, but they lose their nerve and return to the usual schedule. The failure exposes the limits of their immediate leverage. It also highlights the power of management to maintain control.

Professor Sinigaglia, a labor activist on the run from the police, hops off a freight train and seeks refuge in the workers’ neighborhood. He attends a meeting and begins to influence the movement with his experience. His presence signals a shift toward a more organized, sustained action.

Drawing on his own experience, Sinigaglia persuades the workers to move from protests to a full strike and to stockpile supplies for a prolonged fight. His fiery rhetoric deepens commitment and broadens the strategy. The movement shifts from sporadic protests to organized industrial action.

The workers’ committee assigns Sinigaglia as a guest to Raoul, a bitter, skeptical worker who doubts the movement’s chances. Raoul’s skepticism highlights internal tensions and the challenge of uniting the workforce. Sinigaglia’s presence tests and reshapes those doubts.

Management offers token concessions, then brings in workers freshly laid off from another factory to replace strikers. A confrontation erupts, and Pautasso is killed in the clash. The tragedy draws press attention and forces government scrutiny, prompting the owners to pull back the replacements.

The police track Sinigaglia to Raoul’s home, forcing the professor to flee once more. The movement’s notoriety attracts state attention and heightens the sense of danger. Raoul’s position within the movement becomes more precarious as authorities close in.

A month into the strike, factory owners suffer heavy losses and feel mounting pressure to concede. Yet the workers, short on supplies and morale, vote to end the strike. The moment seems like a setback, but the struggle persists in another form.

Sinigaglia reappears and delivers fiery rhetoric, convincing the workers not only to continue but to escalate by occupying the factory. The mood shifts from ending the struggle to intensifying the fight.

A confrontation with an army unit erupts at the factory gates and soldiers fire into the crowd, killing Omero. The strikers flee in chaos as Sinigaglia is arrested, while Raoul goes into hiding after attacking a police officer. The assault marks a brutal turn in the struggle and its immediate outcome.

The closing scenes mirror the opening: the grim-faced workers cross the factory gates to resume work, with Omero replaced by his younger brother. Raoul hops on a freight train to seek refuge with the underground, determined to pursue the cause in another city. The film ends with the struggle continuing beyond the frame.