The Fuyao plant, bought by Chinese industrialist
Cao Dewang, employs some 2,200 American
and 200 Chinese workers. The film gives a
close-up look at how the cultures adjust to one
another. At one point, a Chinese worker explains
that Americans are slow because they have fat
fingers. Many Chinese at the plant consider
the Americans lazy. The Americans at the plant
question what they see as Chinese workers
unquestioned devotion to a company that robs
them of time to enjoy life.
At the factory’s opening ceremony, Dave
Burrows, the vice president of the American
factory, privately curses out Ohio Sen. Sherrod
Brown for suggesting that the Chinese owner
be open to running a union shop. Two years
later, after he’s been fired, Burrows drives by the
factory and bitterly notes that you can’t spell
Fuyao without an “f and “u.”
Tensions rise when the factory doesn’t initially
meet production goals, culminating in a bitter
fight over the right to unionize.
In one of the last scenes, an employee gives
Cao a tour of the factory floor and boasts about
how automation provides Fuyao with the
opportunity to fire workers.
The name of the Obamas’ company, Higher
Ground, flashes by in the opening credits, but
the Obamas themselves aren’t mentioned
anywhere. Neither is President Donald Trump.
Netflix worked in partnership with Higher
Ground to acquire the film from Participant
Media earlier this year, and gave no details
about the financing. Netflix released a brief clip
Wednesday of the Obamas discussing their
interest in the project with the filmmakers.
“One of the many things I love about this film...
is that you let people tell their own story,” the
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(Ann)
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