Larson's film County Line is set to an eerie soundtrack. The camera settles
on this dark, forbidding cage-like wooden machine. The capsule-shaped
contraption consists of enormous gears, cranks, clamps and rods, and
generates a gooey oily substance that runs through a trough around its
perimeter.
There's room for two men, one perched above, the other below. They power the
machine with small movements. One moves his head from side to side while the
other grasps a lever in his mouth.
It's obvious the machine has no apparent function, and the enormous effort
being put forth by the two sweat-drenched laborers is a futile exercise. Is
it a statement about the drudgery of everyday life? Possibly. Or maybe
something more sinister.