It seems like Hollywood is suddenly obsessed with political filmmaking. What's the deal?
It's in the air everybody's breathing right now. Things are fucked up, and I actually think the entertainment industry is a pretty good little weather vane for that. Before, you never got the financing. Now there's this idea that people might respond, so you might get something made that you wouldn't have ten years ago.
How are the fast-food franchises reacting to the movie?
It's a little early to tell. A lot of what we've seen so far has been spin campaigning directed at Eric, because he's been on their list a long time and because of his latest book, Chew on This, which is kind of a Fast Food Nation for kids. There were some things reported in The Wall Street Journal about a "truth squad" launched by McDonald's. But we're really not in the thick of it yet—they're not going to show their plan too early.
This is new territory for you as a filmmaker. Are you ready for the backlash?
It's healthy and challenging to find yourself in the crosshairs of someone you've offended or threatened—I don't mind it at all. I've floated through life as a concerned citizen, a concerned parent, who's never had to articulate much beyond my feelings. The industry hires lobbyists and has laws written in their favor, and I've gone after their bottom line. When that's threatened, you get zinged by the best of the best—the guys on the debate team who always won and then went to law school and now get paid to represent really powerful interests.
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Scenes from FAST FOOD NATION: Mexican immigrants loading up for an illegal border crossing. (Eric Lee/FOX Searchlight)
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The film contains some pretty tough scenes to watch. Which was the hardest to shoot?
Physically, it was the day in the desert, when we shot the scene of illegal immigrants sneaking across the border. We were filming just south of the New Mexico border, it was really hot, and we had 53 setups in one day. Everything you see in the desert we did in one day. We went out there when it was dark and we left when it was dark. It was that kind of movie, you know—we just had to run and gun all along.
Filming in a slaughterhouse couldn't have been easy, either.
We were wearing what the workers wear—hard hats, gloves, boots—and it's cold in there. I don't know which was worse, the moment the cow gets the bolt gun in the head or seeing the skulls thrown into piles. But it's not chaotic at all. It's chillingly systematic and efficient. After it was over, I remember calling Eric and saying, "You know, I felt like a war correspondent today." Like I'd captured something that we all know happens, that's a very common thing but not something that's seen very often.
Is the ick factor the most powerful part of the movie?
When Upton Sinclair wrote The Jungle back in 1906, he thought people would be aghast at the plight of the workers. But what really got to them was the fact that they were potentially eating rancid food that had been on the factory floor. It's the same today. Even the richest, most uncaring people think, I don't want my loved ones to get sick.
How about the cast and crew? Did they all decide to become vegetarians?
While we were shooting the slaughterhouse scenes, a lot of people said they wouldn't eat beef for a while. But, sure enough, a lot of them walked right outside and over to this big wok where our caterers were grilling up meat.
