American Dream

Barbara Kopple's 1990 documentary records a strike at a meatpacking plant in Minnesota. The company demands a pay cut in a profitable year, and the local union rejects it and walks out. The real subject is not the strike continuing but the split. The national union does not back the local, some workers return to the line and sides form inside the same family; the narrative shows this without declaring anyone a traitor. Kopple filmed over several years and spoke with every side; company managers, union representatives and those who broke the strike appear in the same film. The record is long and the camera enters the meeting rooms. Who it's for: those who follow labour history and observational documentary. Who it's not for: people watching in expectation of a victory; the strike is lost and the film does not soften it.