American Factory

Starring: Junming "Jimmy" Wong, Dave Burrows, Cho Tak Wong, Robert Allen, Rob Haerr, Jill Lamantia, Jeff Daochuan Liu
Directed by: Steven Bognar, Julia Reichert
Rating: TV-14
Genre: Documentary
2019

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: In Dayton, Ohio, a Chinese factory opens a glass-producing factory that used to be a GM plant. The town and its residents celebrate the influx of jobs, but soon discover cultural clashes they hadn't imagined.

Review:

Tim: I know American Factory got a lot of visibility for being the first film produced by Barack and Michelle Obama's production company (although I read the movie was finished before their deal, so...). It was an acclaimed film that went on to win the Academy Award for Best Documentary. Full transparency, documentaries are a genre of film I've too often ignored. I have definitely seen some great ones in my day, but I need to focus on them more. This one felt like a good movie. It offers some insights, but I've seen far more compelling and far more enlightening movies than this.

The story felt somewhat personal, as it takes place in Dayton, OH. I haven't spent a ton of time in Dayton, but I grew up in Ohio, spending about 21 years of my life in the Heart of it All. I understand some of the working class dynamics that are present here. It's an interesting story- a city still reeling from the closing of a GM plant (and the enormous loss of jobs) is overjoyed when Fuyao, a Chinese glass manufacturer comes in with promises of employment and a new lease on life for many of the city's residents. There's big challenges ahead as the factory attempts to reconcile two different cultures. The idea is a solid one- combining the innovation of the Americans with the consistency and work ethic of the Chinese, great things could happen.

The heart of the movie explores the cultural differences between the Chinese and Americans. We see this present in the workers, in their approach to management/leadership, in how they deal with unions, in how they structure work and think about work/life balance. That's the most fascinating aspect of the film, to see these two cultures clash in one manufacturing plant in Ohio. This all comes to a boiling point when workers begin talks of unionizing, in the face of substandard wages and unsafe working conditions. Some of these revelations are a bit surprising (and a little depressing). It does raise big questions about the global scale of operations and the challenges they'll face. The movie tries to balance both sides and give each a fair shake, but as the movie goes on, it definitely takes on a pro-American and anti-Chinese bent. It never fully loses its objectivity, but I wish the directors looked at this from a more objective stance and let the audience make up their own minds more.

One of my complaints about this movie is that it doesn't do a good job of establishing a personal connection with the people involved. We get a few nice moments with a number of people, but it mostly stays surface-level. I wanted the film to dig deeper, to tell more personal stories. We learn a bit about Junming Wang. We see Dave Burrows in not the most positive light. We get several nice scenes with Rob Haerr and a few touching ones with Jill Lamantia. However, we never really get to connect with these people at a deeper level. In the best documentaries I've seen, the people feel almost larger than life. That didn't happen here. They often feel smaller than life, which is a problem.

I was quite intrigued by the scenes with Cho Tak Wong, the founder of Fuyao. He isn't always presented in the best light, but he obviously granted the directors a good bit of access. We see him in some meetings that he probably wishes never saw the light of day. There's a few quiet moments, too- him staring off in the distance smoking, for example, where you just wonder how that shot came out. He's a fascinating character and I would loved for this film to spend more time on him. I wanted to learn more about this interesting man.

While I wouldn't call this a great documentary at all, American Factory is a solid movie. It's interesting, even though none of the revelations are all that startling. You get to know some people whose lives would normally remain hidden to us, but it's not like we get to know them at an especially deep level. The movie mostly holds your attention, but it's overly long. I never felt truly enthralled by anything. For these reasons, I'm a little surprised the film won the Academy Award for Best Documentary. It's a good movie and I'm glad I saw it, but I won't be thinking about this movie for years to come.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating- 7



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