Fast Food Nation - Preview
Preview by Jack Foley
FIRST there was Supersize Me. Now Fast Food Nation. The American burger industry must be hating Hollywood right now.
Playing in competition, Richard Linklater’s adaptation of the best-selling non-fiction book by Eric Schlosser generally impressed critics when it was shown at the start of the Cannes Film Festival (2006).
It casts a critical eye on fast food in the US through the destinies of three characters: a marketing executive of a fast food chain, an employee of the same chain, and a clandestine immigrant working at the slaughterhouse.
In so doing, it follows the fortunes of Mexican illegal immigrants entering the US to work at a meat-processing plant, as well as a fast food executive’s investigation into the discovery of cattle faeces in burgers and a high school student and burger bar worker who takes her first steps as an activist.
An all-star cast is headed by Linklater regular Ethan Hawke, as well as Greg Kinnear, Patricia Arquette, Catalina Sandino Moreno, Patricia Arquette and Bruce Willis.
Although the book is non-fiction, Linklater chose not to adapt it into a documentary but rather examine the book’s themes using a fictional set of characters. He subsequently teamed up with Schlosser to do so.
Speaking at a Cannes press conference, he explained: “From my perspective, I was a fan of the book and when Eric [Schlosser] came to where I live in Austin, Texas, we met and talked about it. I had the question for him that most people have been talking about ever since, which is: ‘Is it a documentary? It’s a fantastic piece of non-fiction but I don’t really do documentaries, so what is the movie? What is the shot?’
“Eric was talking about it as a character piece about the lives of people in this world but a fictional account located in one town. We took off from there.”
Although the film is based around a fictional burger chain, Mickey’s Fast Food Restaurants, its characters are designed to represent all of the fast food industry – from the minors who work there, to those who work in the meat packaging plants, the community of ranches, as well as a fast food restaurant manager who represents the point of view of the big companies.
“The idea is that at the end, none of these characters are symbols but real, living, human beings,” explains the author.
As such, its issues are certain to remain as emotive as they were in book form. And the last scene, in particular, has got the Cannes critics talking, given that it features two characters walking through the killing floor of a giant meat-packing factory, surrounded by mechanised slaughter and cattle carcasses.
When asked how difficult it was to get access to a slaughterhouse for the scene, Linklater responded: “Obviously, that’s real footage. We didn’t think we would get that kind of access but they let us in under some very strict conditions about time. We couldn’t bring equipment in.
“So much of this movie was made kind of on the fly where we had to insinuate the actors into real situations in the workplace. We had a couple of hours to film all of it. It’s tough imagery, but that was the way the narrative unfolds. It hints at it, you see it, the film talks about it. Eric and I thought it really needed to deliver that final [scene]. You had to actually see it. This movie is really about unveiling things and becoming aware and I think that’s a reality everyone needs to know.”
Fast Food Nation is one of two films by Linklater showing at Cannes – the other is A Scanner Darkly, starring Keanu Reeves, in the Un Certain Regard section.