Directors Julia Reichert and Steven Bognar
Producers Michelle and Barack Obama
AMERICAN FACTORY C+
USA (115 mi) 2019
d: Julia Reichert and Steven Bognar
Despite the accolades coming out of Sundance, winner of the
Best Director category in the documentary competition, the first film made with
the distribution backing of Higher Ground productions, a media company launched
by Barack and Michelle Obama (coming onboard only after the filming was
complete), as well as Participant Media, where executive producer Diane
Weyermann (longtime Sundance executive) heads the film and television arm of a
company dedicated to social change, and while it attempts to be objective and
even handed, telling both sides of the story, this film barely scratches the
surface, only touching upon the most glaring cultural differences, exposing the
futile plight of the working class, who get screwed once again, while leaving largely
unanswered any underlying implications about the overall success or failure of
this global capitalist venture. Even the
billionaire owner is unsure if he is the hero or villain in this continuing
saga playing out in open view. “From the
early footage, it was clear they had incredible access to management as well as
the workers,” says Weyermann. “But it’s
not just having access that matters, it’s what a filmmaker can do with the
access. Julia and Steven are extraordinary
verité filmmakers who could capture the drama and identify compelling
characters as the story unfolded in real time.
We saw the potential for an incredibly strong, critically important
story that needed to be told.” Without
comment or critique, but simply providing fly on the wall observation, perhaps inadvertently
shining a bright light on the ethics (or lack thereof) of capitalism, the film
attempts to put a human face on globalization, becoming an all too familiar
story that shows in draconian fashion the dismantling (once again) of the
American Dream as it eviscerates before our eyes, where one should point out
that 5 million manufacturing jobs have disappeared since the year 2000, mostly
replaced by entry level or part-time positions.
Examining the changing fortunes of a Rust Belt community in Dayton,
Ohio, riddled with economic turmoil since the closing of a General Motors auto
plant two days before Christmas in 2008, where 10,000 jobs were lost when the
plant closed, leaving what was a thriving middle-class community economically ravaged,
never recovering from the financial void.
In what was initially viewed as a godsend, hopes skied through the roof
when a Chinese billionaire decided to re-open the abandoned plant to operate a
large-scale glass facility called Fuyao Glass America, the world’s leading
supplier of automotive glass, including GM, Ford, Honda, Toyota and many other
auto manufacturers. Already operating in
8 countries in addition to China, the opening of an American branch was highly
symbolic, especially the idea of using a shuttered American plant, as starting
from scratch might have been cheaper, but part of the attraction was realizing
the importance of providing jobs in such an economically depressed region,
believing it would significantly improve how the Chinese are viewed in America,
seeing themselves as their nation’s ambassadors, wanting to be viewed in a
positive light. The film doesn’t do
justice to the actual size of the facility, as it’s large enough to hold 41
football fields, still containing the old equipment that needed to be removed
and cleaned up before installing their own manufacturing equipment, a massive
project that by itself took a year. When
2000 American workers were hired in 2015 (albeit at $12/hr, less than half the
pay they were earning previously, similar to entry level pay at any retail
store, which have significantly fewer safety hazards), people jumped at the
opportunity, welcoming the owner Chairman Cao Dewang along with his Chinese trainers
and advisory staff, creating an initial sense of optimism and euphoria, with
smiles all around, believing this cultural exchange was in everyone’s best
interest.
What’s perhaps most surprising is the access given to the
filmmakers, who were paired (at their own request) with a bilingual team of
young female Chinese filmmakers, Mijie Li and Yiqian Zhang (the latter is
credited as an additional camera and translator while the former remains
uncredited), whose views are never presented, but they are an unseen cultural bridge
that helped assemble this material, so should not go unmentioned. The Chinese trainers working side-by-side
with the Americans are welcomed into people’s homes and to backdoor barbeques, spending
holidays together, going fishing, with some seen taking target practice with
guns, which are not allowed in China, or even riding on the back of
Harleys. This cultural exchange is
reminiscent of the spirit of Thanksgiving, giving thanks for the second chance many
of these workers were experiencing. But
progress was slow in coming, as profits weren’t instantaneous as they are in
Chinese factories, with both sides perplexed at the appearance of
stagnation. In a spirit of exchange, the
American managerial staff are invited to share New Year’s festivities in China
with the boss and his factory workers, which is a major production number, with
workers performing skits and heavily produced musical numbers, while also
demonstrating the solidarity among the ranks, where workers sing cheerful songs
together, or align themselves in military formations when announcing production
teams, using slogans and cliché’d expressions to heighten the spirit, all
praising the company and its great achievements, where the boss is treated like
a military general that the workers bow down before, honoring him with nothing
but praise. When this American staff
returns to the plant, the stark contrast couldn’t be more pronounced, as
workers simply aren’t going to sing the praises like their Chinese
counterparts, and there are grumblings within the ranks, as the Chinese
management style ignores safety precautions, putting workers at risk, especially
those working around the flaming hot furnace where temperatures routinely
exceed 1,200 degrees Fahrenheit, while managers may be releasing toxic
chemicals down the drain, where it’s unclear what effect this has on the water
supply. More importantly, Chinese
workers are completely indoctrinated, used to 12-hour days, working weekends,
while routinely working overtime without pay.
They view American workers as soft for stopping after 8-hours and going
home, as Chinese workers only see their families about two days a month (for
those coming to America it can be years), relying on others to raise their
children, essentially becoming strangers to them as they are exiled at work away
from home, where the essential marriage that matters is to the company. According to Chairman Cao, “The point of
living is to work,” where family is viewed as purely secondary, while the
lifelong commitment to the company is reinforced daily, with managers caught on
camera voicing their opinion that Chinese culture is far superior, that
Americans should be treated like donkeys.
Of course, Americans view this with skepticism, as China has no history
of labor laws, but anxiety within the ranks grows when it comes to safety
concerns, as there’s no union, as they had as auto workers, protecting their
interests. When a few workers get
seriously injured on the job, it appears that their medical needs are compensated
(though done secretly), but some are fired before they have an opportunity to
return, where there’s whispering within the ranks about what’s causing these
accidents, and many blame shortcuts taken by the company.
