Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #47582 in DVD
• Released on: 2008-03-17
• Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
• Format: PAL
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 106 minutes

Synopsis

In Bread And Roses, left-leaning director Ken Loach--who has spent his career focusing on the struggles of the poor and working classes of Great Britain--shifts his view-finder to the plight of a union of office-cleaners, invisible in the glittering City of Angels. Loosely based on a 1990 janitor's strike at Century City, the events are seen through the eyes of Maya (Pilar Padilla), a young Latina who hopes only to find work in the United States. Through her sister, Rosa (Elpidia Carrillo), she gets a job at an office-cleaning company, whose largely Latino work force labors without benefits for $5.75 hour. Since many of the workers are undocumented, they live in constant fear of their brutal boss, Perez (George Lopez). Even so, the arrival of union organizer Sam (Adrien Brody) is hardly greeted with elation by the workers, who know how easily they could be fired if they were found at a union meeting. As the workers debate the risks and rewards of joining the union, Maya finds herself to drawn to the humorous but intensely dedicated Sam, whose seemingly whimsical tactics prove to be surprisingly effective. Despite his clear belief in the importance of the union, Loach's sensitivity won't allow him to scant the complexities of the lives of his characters, a quality best expressed in Rosa's disturbing final revelation. The entertainment lawyer's party features cameos by a number of stars, including William Atherton, Ron Perlman, Stephanie Zimbalist, Benicio Del Toro, and Tim Roth.

Customer Reviews

A class consicous worker is born...
This film of Ken Loach depicts a labour issue in the United States. Janitors who are working in the cleaning business of great plazas face a great dilemma. They live in harsh conditions, earn just enough to barely avoid hunger but the places they clean and work are for higher elite of the society. Workers want to change this situation by fighting for their rights and by demanding higher wages and social security. They try to get organised but hard days await them. Betrayal, police brutality and arrests are in store for the workers. In the end will they insist on fighting or will they give up the struggle? There are some side issues in the film also. One is the problem of illegal immigration. Every year thousands of Latin Americans cross the United States border in order to get into the "dream" country. They are usually caught and sent back, but the succesfull ones work illegally for fear of deportation on lowest of wages for longer hours. They usually end up in illegal jobs such as prostution or drugs dealing.The other issue is the disunity among workers. Workers who accepted the issue of organising themselves slowly fade away as the struggle gets tougher. Some are blamed by their families, some sneak behind their educational careers but they eventually fall back. Their reasons are understandable but in the end thay fail to keep their word. A very real and dramatic film with a worker's point of view.

Riview of film
I purchased this film for our local film club. Although I did not watch the film myself, the people who did go the film were very happy with the film.