19/05/2006

Independent US filmmaker Richard Linklater presented his UK co-production Fast Food Nation [+see also:
trailer
film profile], selected in official competition, to the press yesterday evening.

Part documentary feature on the manufacture and toxicity of hamburgers made in the US, part immersion in the world of illegal Mexican immigrants, the film stirred up interest rather than enthusiasm among international journalists.

Produced by Jeremy Thomas (Bernardo Bertolucci’s legendary producer) for Recorded Picture Company and co-produced by BBC Films and US outfit Participant Productions, Fast Food Nation is being sold internationally by the London-based Hanway Films.

Linklater’s film, a screen adaptation of Eric Schlosser’s book, tells three short stories set in a Colorado town, Cody, home of the Big One, fast food restaurant Mickey’s star hamburger. An executive from company headquarters is sent on site after some worrying tests reveal that the meat contains a high proportion of faecal substance.

Parallel to this, three young Mexicans are busy crossing the border and trying to integrate into society by working illegally and in slave-like conditions in the Uniglobe Meat Packing factory, while a young fast food waitress has just discovered the world of anti-globalisation protests.

An engaging patchwork with frank dialogue, such as "You gotta be realistic, we have to eat this shit sometimes" or "The machine has taken control of this country", this film would probably never have been made without European involvement.

(Translated from French)