American Factory

A fascinating look into the clash between Chinese and American work mentalities. The amount of access the filmmakers have been given to the kind of conversations and decisions that are usually kept from the public is incredible. Without any narrator to tie it all together, the momentum of the storytelling depends on the editing and the talking head segments, both of which started off great but then I found a bit lacking towards the end.

It is an OK documentary with a very interesting premise. It is really good at showing the culture differences and shocking at that at times. But you just don't feel satisfied at the end. It just ends, there doesn't seem to be a strong focus of the documentary, just states the differences and then ends. Which isn't a bad thing, but takes away from the bigger effect it could have.

This first entry on Netflix funded by Barack and Michelle Obama is a competent, well filmed documentary in a contemporary style with no narrator - designed for the viewer to come to their own conclusion. Of course, there is a strong POV that clearly sympathizes with the United Auto Workers and paints the Chinese leadership of Fuyao, the plant owners, as uncaring aliens who are trodding without understanding into the US. The film is at its best went it occasionally deviates from this narrative.

Nicely understated (and at times darkly funny) depiction of the culture clash between the Americans and Chinese and both of their fundamentally flawed and self-serving approaches to worker exploitation; makes the thought provoking (and sad) point that being a willing slave to the system vs attempting to fight an unwinnable battle is a "lesser of two evils" choice that the majority of us have to make. Perhaps its refusal to take a side means the dramatic fire is not as well stoked as it could be.

Makes some great and often hilarious observations about the differences between Chinese and Americans, but then inexplicably lumps in general Capitalist criticism and, at the very end, changes tack again and thinks about the future of work for all of 20 seconds. Some of the music choices also felt polemic.

Low wages, shitty treatment, illegal corner-cutting, union suppression. So a Chinese run factory is in the end, the same as one run by Americans. Obvious but nonetheless depressing.

Apparently in China being a factory slave is something to be proud of. The rest of us are "lazy".

The Chinese workers perform for the camera what they would perform for their masters at home, not realizing that they were supposed to perform for the American audience. Do the Chinese workers really pride themselves in working long hours with few safety considerations? I suspect not, but what seems like bluster is played out as 'cultural differences'. A more patient and probing work will find a vibrant inner life and humanizing complexity beyond the token 'They have families too'.

Great subject in spite of the filmmakers trying a little too hard to push one angle.

Portrait of multiple voices and it ultimately gets what it wants -- the cultural clashes, the differences between each nation's view on work and personal lives -- but it kind of bothered me how this seems to be more interested in being nice to everyone involved and interviewed than actually trying to go beyond this tightrope filmmaking and actually getting somewhere.

The parts on differing cultures was really interesting, but some of it just felt tacked on at the end.

This is what you get when your government allows any foreign investors to come in and buy up land and businesses, then import their own workers, then undercut Americans and pay slave wages to immigrants who are used to working for peanuts. It's happening more and more each day. Don't be surprised to wake up in 2050 and be in the United States of China. It's even worse in Canada...ask anyone who lives in Hongcouver....I mean Vancouver. Why visit China when you can visit Richmond, B.C.

A fascinating look at the clash between the Chinese and American way of life (hint the Chinese worker way of life fucking sucks).

Impressively multi-faceted. It ends a little too softly for my taste but overall it offers a great deal to chew on.

A fascinating and well-constructed documentary, highlighting the difficulties that differences in culture can bring to a workplace. Manages to tell us a story that doesn't take sides and lays out the problems the people who are directly affected face. Feels like a very important film to watch and appreciate.

Incredible watch. Manages to blend office comedy, cultural relativism and the effects of globalisation into two hours. Gripping from start to finish, with a whole MBA class contained in the film. The directors are clearly pro-union, but the rest of the the film is commendably even-handed.

Impressive look at not only globalization, but the problems with US labour as it is today.

I think it was supposed to be anti capitalism and anti union-busting but it was really just anti-Chinese. The movie projected xenophobia and consistently just made "other" the villain. Big yikes from me.

Culture clash and deft filmmaking/editing is the foot in the door, the working class getting grinded into mulch more efficiently on a global scale is the brutal truth. The real factory dictates the story, but I wish they touched on how American and other international companies also attempt to exploit workers. As is, China appears as a unique villain rather than a part of capital's wider problem.

good pace, good editing, very watchable. somewhat concerning for the americans, i guess.

Really interesting in showing the cultural clash, beyond the good or bad will of every people involved.

Extremely interesting documentary! Really enjoyed watching this Chinese vs American struggle within a single company. Very interesting to see the cultures clash. And very chilling to see automation walk away with the bone in the end..

Incredibly interesting look at how globalization affects our workforce. Love how the fly-on-the-wall perspective helps the film seem very real and authentic.

Interesting from the business perspective, but also in the personal stories it tells and stark cultural differences it exposes. Its strength was in showing rather than telling, but suddenly, out of nowhere, the film soured for me when a few comments about job automation popped up and the film abruptly ended.

Cultures that clash are always entertaining. And that is what you get here. It lacks structure and development, but there are many entertaining scenes.

2020-10-26

Entertainment: 3/4. Spirituality: 1.5/3. Sustainability: 2/3. Family: 1/1.

The duct tape joke didn't go down too well

Tremendous, personal footage is captured from all sides. The culture clash is fascinating, but just when you think the Chinese workers are a bunch of mindless robots, emotion, longing, and disagreement bubble to the surface. More modernity, money, consumerism, and ultimately unhappiness is creeping in and becoming global. Big ideas and questions are presented without resolution. This balanced, observational documentary is one of the best I have seen in years.