OSCARS 2020: American Factory (2019)

Netflix has irrevocably changed the way we consume film. I still don't know if that's good or bad. (Most days I lean towards bad.) Still, I admire the streaming giant for one thing. Making a film instantly available across a world-wide platform is an excellent path of distribution. It's especially beneficial to independent films and niche genres that probably wouldn't get much attention otherwise. Such as the documentary. The people in power know this. That's why Barrack and Michelle Obama's new production company, High Grounds, teamed up with Netflix. Their debut production, “American Factory,” can be far more widely seen now than if it had been dropped into a few select theaters. Now, the Obamas and Netflix have gotten an Oscar nomination.

In 2008, a General Motors factory in Dayton, Ohio closed. This left thousands of people unemployed. Nearly a decade later, a Chinese company by the name of Fuyao – a producer of automobile glass – buys the building. This is Fuyao's first factory in America. Many of the old GM workers are re-hired to work for the new company, in addition to about two hundred Chinese workers. Yet the Chinese runners of Fuyao soon discover that American workers are not the same as Chinese workers. As the factory workers attempt to unionize against the decidedly anti-union corporation, conflict emerges.

“American Factory” is essentially a culture clash story. Since the film's perspective is so very warm, it gets a lot of humor out of this set-up. Sometimes these laugh-producing moments are absurd in a rather sweet way. Such as when the Chinese workers go fishing and a Dayton local tries to explain to them what Wheaties are. One of my favorite moments has an American factory worker, a self described “good ol' boy,” showing the Chinese workers how to fire guns or ride his motorcycle. This goes both ways, of course. After an under-performing first year, several of the American Fuyao executives are sent to China. They are presented with a massive New year's celebration, where singers and dancers – all Fuyao employees, supposedly – perform elaborately choreographed numbers. Sometimes, this stuff is almost unbelievable. Such as when the Chinese workers rise ot sing a song about Fuyao. And here I thought “Rollerball” invented corporate anthems.

Sometimes, the behavior caught on camera in “American Factory” is so ridiculous, it seems like satire. Upon arriving in the American factory, the Chinese CEO of Fuyao immediately starts making the pettiest demands. Such as rotating a garage door, which costs thousands of dollars, or moving a fire alarm to a less intrusive place, which is against the law. While in China, the American execs sees the Chinese workers perfectly lined up in the morning, effortlessly delivering a chant of corporate lingo. When he tries this same tactic with American workers, it is less than effective.

Ultimately though, “American Factory” is about how the workers get screwed, regardless of what side of the ocean they are on. The former GM workers take a huge pay-cut to work at Hayou. They toil in unsafe conditions, which the corporation is reluctant to fix. (Much to the chagrin of aghast safety inspectors.) Troublesome workers are put in unfair conditions, intentionally to get them fired. Yet, somehow, the Chinese workers have it even harder. They work twelve hour days for months on end, rarely getting time off to see their families. They have to pick up broken glass without so much as goggles or the proper gloves. Unions are unheard of in China, which is why Fayuo fights the attempted unionization of the American factory so hard. The tactics they use, which include hiring a “union consultant” to intimidate the younger workers, are down right insidious. As the film ends, “American Factory” shows that the increasing rise of automation will only make things harder for blue collar workers everywhere.

“American Factory” touched me on a very personal level. I use to work in a warehouse, toiling on my feet for ridiculous hours while my employer – a billion dollar corporation – gave me barely enough to fulfill my rent. (This place also had a pretty strict anti-union policy.) So it's fair to say I relate a lot to the workers in “American Factory,” to the struggle their jobs impose on them. The movie might just be preaching tot he choir when it shows how fucking greedy and profit-obsessed the companies are. But that's reality, man. Thus, “American Factory” emerges as a vital document of our times. [9/10]