Ken Loach's 2000 film Bread and Roses marks a rare foray overseas for the director, with a screenplay by Paul Laverty about Los Angeles janitors fighting for better working conditions and the right to unionise. It is inspired (but not strictly based on) the "Justice for Janitors" campaign of the Service Employees International Union and it's easy to see why it appealed to Loach, given its themes of oppressed workers fighting for their rights.
The film follows Pilar Padilla's Maya, who is exploited in different ways at every opportunity, by the smugglers who bring her to the USA, and by her boss, who casually extorts chunks of her initially salary as the price of giving her a job. In keeping with many Loach films, it is resolutely one-sided, with the employers represented by George Lopez's obnoxious bully Perez. Laverty also targets the US health insurance system, with Jack McGee's Bert a diabetic who is unable to afford insulin (predictably, this catches up with him later in the film). Alongside this social commentary however, Laverty's script characteristically includes plenty of humour, such as when Maya evades the smuggler who expects her to have sex with him by stealing his keys and boots and locking him in a hotel room. Later, Sam Shapiro first appears in a scene that is positively slapstick. The result, as in other Loach/Laverty collaborations is a mix of serious themes and humour that never quite gels, with the two sitting uneasily side-by-side.
It aims to be very weighty and very worthy, with mixed success. Critics of Loach should note that it features female non-white protagonists, again demonstrating that he's often led by his writers. The opening scenes of the Mexican immigrants being smuggled into the USA by unpleasant people smugglers, who demand sex for payment when the money isn't enough, are shot in Spanish with English subtitles. That said, it takes "white college boy" Sam Shapiro to incite the janitors to action, a fact that the script openly acknowledges. Like much of Laverty's work, there is a great deal that is predictable, including Bert's diabetes worsening and Sam and Maya's romantic relationship, plus the fact that she clashes with Ruben, whose hopes and dreams of a scholarship are nearly ruined by the campaign for better conditions. It also gets very overwrought, notably during the scene when Rosa tells Maya that she worked as a whore for five years when she came to the USA, whilst the extensive party scene is pure padding. Interestingly, Maya saves the day by resorting to criminal behaviour, in this case stealing from a convenience store to pay for Ruben's scholarship; in many Loach films, such behaviour is implicitly excused if it is committed by the oppressed working classes, but here, unexpectedly, the film ends with Maya being deported as an alternative to prosecution when she gets caught, ending her life in the United States and her relationship with Sam.
The cast is excellent, which Loach's temporary move to America allowing him to work with more high profile stars than usual, including Adrien Brody as Sam Shapiro and Elpidia Carrillo as Rosa (there are also cameos by Benicio del Toro, Ron Perlman, Tim Roth and Chris Penn). Shooting the film on location in Los Angeles also pays off; once again working with Barry Ackroyd, Loach makes good use of unfamiliar locations, swapping grimy English (and occasionally Scottish) council estates for rundown American suburbs. It remains recognisably a Loach film and demonstrates his usual skill behind the camera, although its production is slightly marred by George Fenton's variable score, which is frequently heavy-handed, with irritating whimsical refrains used to tell the audience when something intended to be amusing is happening. Bread and Roses isn't Loach's best film - not for the first or last time, it is undermined by Laverty's slightly clumsy storytelling - but it certainly makes for an interesting entry into his catalogue.
The film follows Pilar Padilla's Maya, who is exploited in different ways at every opportunity, by the smugglers who bring her to the USA, and by her boss, who casually extorts chunks of her initially salary as the price of giving her a job. In keeping with many Loach films, it is resolutely one-sided, with the employers represented by George Lopez's obnoxious bully Perez. Laverty also targets the US health insurance system, with Jack McGee's Bert a diabetic who is unable to afford insulin (predictably, this catches up with him later in the film). Alongside this social commentary however, Laverty's script characteristically includes plenty of humour, such as when Maya evades the smuggler who expects her to have sex with him by stealing his keys and boots and locking him in a hotel room. Later, Sam Shapiro first appears in a scene that is positively slapstick. The result, as in other Loach/Laverty collaborations is a mix of serious themes and humour that never quite gels, with the two sitting uneasily side-by-side.
It aims to be very weighty and very worthy, with mixed success. Critics of Loach should note that it features female non-white protagonists, again demonstrating that he's often led by his writers. The opening scenes of the Mexican immigrants being smuggled into the USA by unpleasant people smugglers, who demand sex for payment when the money isn't enough, are shot in Spanish with English subtitles. That said, it takes "white college boy" Sam Shapiro to incite the janitors to action, a fact that the script openly acknowledges. Like much of Laverty's work, there is a great deal that is predictable, including Bert's diabetes worsening and Sam and Maya's romantic relationship, plus the fact that she clashes with Ruben, whose hopes and dreams of a scholarship are nearly ruined by the campaign for better conditions. It also gets very overwrought, notably during the scene when Rosa tells Maya that she worked as a whore for five years when she came to the USA, whilst the extensive party scene is pure padding. Interestingly, Maya saves the day by resorting to criminal behaviour, in this case stealing from a convenience store to pay for Ruben's scholarship; in many Loach films, such behaviour is implicitly excused if it is committed by the oppressed working classes, but here, unexpectedly, the film ends with Maya being deported as an alternative to prosecution when she gets caught, ending her life in the United States and her relationship with Sam.
The cast is excellent, which Loach's temporary move to America allowing him to work with more high profile stars than usual, including Adrien Brody as Sam Shapiro and Elpidia Carrillo as Rosa (there are also cameos by Benicio del Toro, Ron Perlman, Tim Roth and Chris Penn). Shooting the film on location in Los Angeles also pays off; once again working with Barry Ackroyd, Loach makes good use of unfamiliar locations, swapping grimy English (and occasionally Scottish) council estates for rundown American suburbs. It remains recognisably a Loach film and demonstrates his usual skill behind the camera, although its production is slightly marred by George Fenton's variable score, which is frequently heavy-handed, with irritating whimsical refrains used to tell the audience when something intended to be amusing is happening. Bread and Roses isn't Loach's best film - not for the first or last time, it is undermined by Laverty's slightly clumsy storytelling - but it certainly makes for an interesting entry into his catalogue.