Park City Legacy
American Dream
Barbara Kopple
When workers at the Hormel meatpacking plant in Austin, Minnesota are forced to take a substantial pay cut, the local union takes a stand for its members. Their strike tests the fragile promise of the American ideal, revealing the cost of survival when the dream no longer feels shared.
- Runtime
- 98 min
- Language
- English
Screenings
Over the course of six years, director Barbara Kopple documented the plight of 1,500 middle-class workers who believed in the idea that hard work and dedication would result in an increased standard of living. Sudden wage reductions provoked the union to strike, but corporate higher-ups were already prepared to stifle their dissension at any cost. American Dream is not a black-and-white story of injustices thrust upon the American worker — a strategic battle emerges within the union itself, creating a no-win situation that pits brother against brother and friend against friend. In documenting their struggle, Kopple’s observational style is patient, intimate, and unobtrusive. Viewed through a contemporary lens, it serves as a modern manual for understanding the stakes of labor — a reminder that the American Dream still exists on contested ground. — AM
Supervised and approved by director Barbara Kopple, this 4K digital restoration was undertaken by Janus Films and the Criterion Collection from a scan of the 16 mm internegative. The original monaural soundtrack was remastered from the 35 mm DME magnetic track.
Available in person only.
Over the course of six years, director Barbara Kopple documented the plight of 1,500 middle-class workers who believed in the idea that hard work and dedication would result in an increased standard of living. Sudden wage reductions provoked the union to strike, but corporate higher-ups were already prepared to stifle their dissension at any cost. American Dream is not a black-and-white story of injustices thrust upon the American worker — a strategic battle emerges within the union itself, creating a no-win situation that pits brother against brother and friend against friend. In documenting their struggle, Kopple’s observational style is patient, intimate, and unobtrusive. Viewed through a contemporary lens, it serves as a modern manual for understanding the stakes of labor — a reminder that the American Dream still exists on contested ground. — AM
Supervised and approved by director Barbara Kopple, this 4K digital restoration was undertaken by Janus Films and the Criterion Collection from a scan of the 16 mm internegative. The original monaural soundtrack was remastered from the 35 mm DME magnetic track.
Available in person only.