2019’s American
Factory, directed by Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert.
What is it about?
In 2008, a General Motors car manufacturing plant in Dayton,
Ohio, closed its lines for good. Roughly 5 years later, the Chinese company of
Fuyao, lead by billionaire Cao Dewang, purchased the plant with the aim of
producing glass panels for automobiles. While Dayton and the state of Ohio were
happy to encourage industry and try to reestablish a semblance of the
eviscerated working class of the American rust belt, very quickly it comes to
light that the different cultures of America and China carry very different
views on loyalty, industry, and efficacy. Is there a way for a Chinese company to
be successful with American labour on US soil?
Why is it worth seeing?
The best documentaries are ones that are timely, but without
ever catering to instincts that will lead to it becoming dated, with points of
view and nuance that are both many and deep. But all of that is nothing without
some degree of access. American Factory’s
charms are first and foremost rooted in the levels of penetration that
directors Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert are able to get to the key players in
the depiction of Fuyeo’s attempt to run a successful Chinese business in
America. It’s pretty remarkable how nakedly the company’s doings are revealed, and
how unscrupulous its players are in protecting their employer’s livelihood from
a decreased bottom line.
Unfolding in three segments, the first of which explores the process of getting the factory ready for its grand opening. From the beginning, we see how the differences in cultures, assembled in a majority (in numbers) of Americans, and a minority (but having the final vote) of Chinese workers and supervisors, are continents apart. Occasional misunderstandings aside, there’s also more universal in nature employment truths to offer- such as the chairman’s needling of a manager for the placement of a fire alarm, as delivered through an interpreter. However, the coup de grace may be when an Ohio Senator delivers his thoughts at the opening gala regarding the plant’s workers keeping their options open regarding unionization. The resulting response, caught liberally on camera, is as candid as it is cutthroat.
The second segment features a group of Americans travelling to China to gain a better understanding of how the company’s homeland operations work. The fact that one of their bulky visitors struggles to fit into their one size fits all safety vest is a fitting metaphor for how lost in translation the two cultures are in comparison to each other. While viewing the scheduled perfectly choreographed dance shows, and tightly arranged teams shouting slogans at the factory, feel intoxicating in terms of efficiency and order, the Americans following suit on stage, unsynchronized and askew, proves just how different the gaps in culture are.
The third and final segment returns to America, where the factory begins to lose the sheen on its apple. The Chinese workers, some of which are living cramped in college dorm-like quarters, on years-long contracts away from their families back home, begin to resent their American coworkers, who refuse to do things like work seven days a week and work unpaid overtime. Their sentiments are stoked by (primarily Chinese) management, eager to push the company line. On the other end are the American workers, who’s desire for things like safety, independence, higher wages, time off for evenings and weekends, and some degree of job security, prove contentious. We meet workers who speak of having jobs in the manufacturing sectors where they made more then double what they make now. All of the imbalances lead to conversations regarding unionization, which management tries to shoot down with “labour management consultants”, who feed them misinformation that would make even the rankest of conservative political action committees cheer. It all makes for a near conclusion that follows the labour climate of the past two or three decades, a little too closely.
Unfolding in three segments, the first of which explores the process of getting the factory ready for its grand opening. From the beginning, we see how the differences in cultures, assembled in a majority (in numbers) of Americans, and a minority (but having the final vote) of Chinese workers and supervisors, are continents apart. Occasional misunderstandings aside, there’s also more universal in nature employment truths to offer- such as the chairman’s needling of a manager for the placement of a fire alarm, as delivered through an interpreter. However, the coup de grace may be when an Ohio Senator delivers his thoughts at the opening gala regarding the plant’s workers keeping their options open regarding unionization. The resulting response, caught liberally on camera, is as candid as it is cutthroat.
The second segment features a group of Americans travelling to China to gain a better understanding of how the company’s homeland operations work. The fact that one of their bulky visitors struggles to fit into their one size fits all safety vest is a fitting metaphor for how lost in translation the two cultures are in comparison to each other. While viewing the scheduled perfectly choreographed dance shows, and tightly arranged teams shouting slogans at the factory, feel intoxicating in terms of efficiency and order, the Americans following suit on stage, unsynchronized and askew, proves just how different the gaps in culture are.
The third and final segment returns to America, where the factory begins to lose the sheen on its apple. The Chinese workers, some of which are living cramped in college dorm-like quarters, on years-long contracts away from their families back home, begin to resent their American coworkers, who refuse to do things like work seven days a week and work unpaid overtime. Their sentiments are stoked by (primarily Chinese) management, eager to push the company line. On the other end are the American workers, who’s desire for things like safety, independence, higher wages, time off for evenings and weekends, and some degree of job security, prove contentious. We meet workers who speak of having jobs in the manufacturing sectors where they made more then double what they make now. All of the imbalances lead to conversations regarding unionization, which management tries to shoot down with “labour management consultants”, who feed them misinformation that would make even the rankest of conservative political action committees cheer. It all makes for a near conclusion that follows the labour climate of the past two or three decades, a little too closely.
Are there villains, or good guys for that matter, presented here? While it’s always amusing to watch CEO’s “interface” with the rabble, Factory’s strength is in how it presents both sides of the story, with each culture’s formidable histories clanging into each other like the metallic tang of an (alleged) Great Leap Forward. With my North American upbringing, I’m biased, and have political views that could be described as left of centre. With that in mind, it’s difficult to imagine a scenario where a country that as of this moment doesn’t allow its citizens open access to the internet, and has brutal acts of demonstration suppression and currently occupies peaceful places such as Tibet, could be successful partnering with a cultural workforce who think life is about more than just your career. Time will only tell as our consumer dominated economies are catered to by continually evolving retailers.
Regardless, as the documentary hints, the real enemy to workers everywhere may not be of a geopolitical nature, but rather technological. Modernization of modes of work, buoyed by the creation and mobilization of computers, robotics, and even artificial intelligence- are all just arrows in the quiver of capitalism. The real question remains not which culture is better suited for work in the 21st century, but rather if there will be gainful employment for human beings at all.
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