Together We Live: A relic of 1934

Is it worth your time?

Honestly, you probably don't need to watch Together We Live unless you have a weird obsession with 1930s political propaganda or you’re digging through the archives of The Diamond Queen and its peers. If you’re looking for a smooth, modern drama, stay far away. If you like watching history get filtered through someone’s very intense, very personal grievances, pull up a chair.

The whole thing starts with newsreel footage of the 1934 San Francisco strike. It’s grainy and chaotic and sets a tone that the rest of the movie can’t quite keep up with. Then we meet Hank, the Civil War vet. He’s played by Willard Mack, who also wrote and directed this thing. You can really tell he wanted to get his last words in before he passed. It’s not subtle.

Dad vs. The World

Hank is constantly yelling at his sons for reading communist pamphlets. It’s a bit repetitive. The boys, Max and George, just want to fit in with the radical crowd, but their dad keeps popping up to remind them how great the 'old days' were. There’s a scene where they’re arguing in the living room, and the blocking is just so stiff. It feels like they’re standing on a stage rather than in a home.

Speaking of stiff, the dialogue is rough. Nobody talks like these people talk. It’s all grand declarations and finger-pointing. I kept waiting for someone to just have a normal conversation, but that wasn't in the script, I guess. It reminds me of the pacing issues in Courage, where everything feels just a beat too fast or a beat too slow.

• The archival footage of the strike is actually the best part.
• Willard Mack’s performance is… a lot. He’s very committed, I’ll give him that.
• The lighting makes everyone look like they’re being haunted by their own bad decisions.

It’s not a masterpiece. It’s not even really a 'good' movie by any standard metric. But there’s something fascinating about watching a guy like Mack pour all his fears about the changing world into a script. It’s an uneven, dusty, and deeply grumpy film. It’s not quite as weird as Chinese Jinks, but it’s got its own strange energy. Sometimes the film just stops, lingers on a face, and expects you to feel the weight of the moment. I didn't, but I appreciated the effort. 📽️