Page - 62 - in JRFM - Journal Religion Film Media, Volume 02/02

62 | Stefanie Knauss www.jrfm.eu 2016, 2/2, 45–66 instance of mutually empowering relationships between individuals. Not by co- incidence is it Anne’s appearance at Sandra’s house to tell her of her support that saves Sandra from her suicide attempt. Furthermore, the film offers the exploration of a particular form of relation- ship, solidarity, and its value in contemporary society over against the capitalist logic of individualistic self-interest. As Sally Scholz argues, feminist theory and Christian social ethics are united in their equal support of the moral duty of soli- darity in response to the real fact of interdependence among people.36 In the situation from which the film departs, the factory owner pitches the workers against each other by making them choose between receiving a bonus (and thus putting their individual self-interest first) or allowing Sandra to keep her job (thus prioritizing solidarity with Sandra). Although the employer denies any preference for one choice or the other, he is shown to be a representative of the logics of capitalism by making his workers choose between these two al- ternatives. This impression is further confirmed when at the end, after the nar- rowly negative outcome of the ballot for Sandra, he offers to give her job back at the cost of letting one of the temporary workers go, expecting her to choose self-interest over solidarity. Instead, Sandra remains committed to solidarity and refuses his offer. Scholz37 underlines that solidarity asks a person to put herself into the place of another in an act of respect and mutuality – something that Sandra (some- times literally using these words) asks her colleagues to do as she represents her situation to them, and does herself as she tries to see the situation through their eyes. The importance of solidarity is most clearly expressed in the case of Sandra’s colleague Timur, who tearfully realizes his moral obligation to respond to Sandra’s previous act of solidarity when she had taken the blame for him for damaging materials. In addition, solidarity impacts the self-identity of a per- son as a self-determined, autonomous being-in-relationship, which is reflected in Sandra’s encounters with her colleagues and their mutual solidarity, which provide, to use Scholz’s words, “a forum for identity formation” and “a source of dignity”.38 This formative experience enables Sandra in her final conversation with her former boss to stand up for herself and her values and to leave the factory and walk into her future with self-confidence and dignity. Informed by the practice and experience of solidarity, her resistance against her employer, who has been in a position of authority over her and even tells her where to sit during their final conversation, can be seen as the final act of liberation from 36 See Scholz 1997, 24; Scholz adds critically that the Catholic Church does not yet fully apply the duty of solidarity to itself with regard to the recognition of the equal personhood of all human beings and their inclusion in all levels of decision making (26). 37 Cf. Scholz 1997, 25–26. 38 Scholz 1997, 26.