Bye Bye Malmö (2003)

• 77%
• 2003
• Documentary
• Fredrik Gertten

George Wilson came to Malmö to dismantle the worlds largest crane. No big deal: "just a piece of steel" he says confidently. Five months and five accidents later George admits it was his worst project ever. The crane driver Paul Mezga came to Malmö as an 18-year-old. 40 years later he is maneuvering the Kockums crane for the last time. A beloved work site does no longer exist. From his kitchen window he sees the crane disappear. A dramatic documentary about two men and the definite end of an era. The Kockums crane was the worlds highest crane. It was built in 1974 during the Kockum yards most successful period. The crane quickly became a pride for the city and a symbol for an aspiring belief in the future. The yard was shut down in the 80s but the crane was still standing there like a remainder of a lost time. Now it has been sold to a yard in South Korea and has to be dismantled in four months. It is a man from Scotland, George Wilson, who is going to lead the project. With great confidence and solid experience of similar projects, he means that the crane is "just a piece of steel". This job shouldn't be any harder than anything else he's done. Up in the cranes driver cab, a hundred meters above the ground, sits Paul Mezga. He was the one who drove the crane when the yard was active. Now he will drive the crane for the very last time before it is dismantled. When he once again sits at the driver seat, all the memories come back from the time when he drove the highest crane in the world. "It will probably be more difficult to get it down than they think" says Paul about George's task. During the first days the work is already being delayed by heavy weather, and that is just the beginning of a project that George Wilson later will describe as the worst experience he has gone through all his life. In time with George's setbacks, Paul's pride is growing over being the last crane-driver at the crane that didn't want to be forgotten.