Barge

Do we not appreciate barges enough? A case for these 200-foot, flat-bottomed vessels playing an essential role in civilization is made by the captain of the Mary Parker, a towboat, which pushes along a dozen or so tightly-packed barges down the Mississippi River in filmmaker Ben Powell's low-key documentary. “When you get in your car, and you leave your driveway, guess what?” says the captain. “Concrete was probably in a barge. The tires you're rolling on, the petroleum to make them was in a barge. Asphalt…that stuff was in a barge.” He goes on to suggest that just about anything we can buy or use was once, in its original materials form, delivered somewhere by barge, and without these sometimes ugly carriers society would grind to a halt. Life as a captain or crew member has its insular pleasures: the men (and they are all men) aboard the Mary Parker submit to a rhythmic life of shift work with the hum of a powerful boat engine beneath their feet. Powell quickly recognizes that not a lot happens aboard a barge, aside from tasks designed to keep a lot of barges from drifting apart or crashing together. The workers live simply and leave behind domestic problems at home while on month-long trips. And the possibility for advancement is real: a six-figure income is not out of line for a veteran worker with a high school diploma. Powell doesn't make any statement here, but he is a good cultural anthropologist telling the story of a little noticed cog in the global wheel of commerce. Recommended. Aud: C, P. (T. Keogh)