Meat
Screening on Film
Directed by Frederick Wiseman.
US, 1976, 16mm, black & white, 113 min.
Print source: Zipporah Films
US, 1976, 16mm, black & white, 113 min.
Print source: Zipporah Films
In graphic black and white, Wiseman dissects the meat industry into its various parts: the corralling, feeding and killing of the cattle and sheep, the processing of meat, and the final sale of the end products. Even in the grisly, bizarre theater of the slaughterhouse, the business of animal "fabrication" appears startlingly detached and efficient. Teams of wranglers, technicians, administrators, computers and powerful machinery work to fully dismantle these hefty beasts who—like the institutions examined in Wiseman's films—only seem larger and more complex as they are taken apart. Even in the age of food industry exposés, Meat remains a revelatory exception, forgoing judgment for open-ended elucidation. – BG