'Bread and Roses,' a feature film inspired by SEIU's Justice for Janitors campaign, is showing for a limited run at the Lagoon Cinema in Minneapolis starting Friday, June 15.

The movie - one of the few to realistically portray workers' attempts to stand together and organize their work place - focuses on two sisters, both immigrants from Mexico.

Maya (Pilar Padilla) is newly arrived, naive and, despite a harrowing trip across the border into Los Angeles, still idealistic and enthusiastic about the opportunities of America. Rosa (Elpidia Carrillo) is hardened and worn out by too many years of struggling to support her own children, her ailing husband, and her family back in Mexico.

Rude awakening
After Maya badgers Rosa into getting her a job cleaning offices in one of Los Angeles' gleaming skyscrapers, Maya begins to learn all too well the realities of being stuck in low-wage work with a petty and vindictive boss. Perez (George Lopez) not only carries out the exploitative practices of the corporate janitorial service for which he is a supervisor, but seems energized by the opportunity to abuse and degrade workers on his own, especially if they're elderly and female.

Into this mix sneaks Sam (Adrien Brody), a union organizer who demonstrates more creativity and courage than common sense. A heartless firing by Perez gives Sam the chance he needs to persuade Maya and some of her co-workers to consider forming a union.

As we watch the organizing drive sputter along, we observe the invisibility of the janitors, the sacrifice some workers ultimately make, and the innovative tactics Justice for Janitors uses.

Against this backdrop, Maya and her co-workers struggle with themselves and with each other about what might happen if they actually take Sam's advice to stop begging and stand up for their rights. As they grapple, we witness bravery, betrayal and unanswerable questions about loyalty and responsibility, both to one's self and to one's people.

'Bread and Roses' does all of this in ways that are at times sanitized and predictable, at times bluntly devastating.

Workers are on their own
British director Ken Loach and writer Paul Laverty leave no doubts which side they're on. They load the film with examples of the consequences unchecked capitalism has on a largely immigrant workforce whose wages keep going down and who lack any kind of security, to say nothing of health insurance, vacation or other benefits.

Through Sam and through their portrayals of economic reality, Loach and Laverty make it clear there's class warfare going on, and Maya and her co-workers are the victims, not the instigators.

Whether directly or by omission, Loach and Laverty also make it clear the workers are on their own. Outside of a passing reference to 'a right to organize,' in a scene played as much for comedy as for drama, the federal government is invisible in helping the workers exercise that right.

But unions don't get a free ride, either. Sam battles both the workers' doubts and his own bosses. They question his confrontational tactics; he questions whether they're more committed to organizing or to protecting their pensions and building a campaign fund for Democratic politicians.

Though Sam may end up in jail, he realizes he never has as much at risk as those he's trying to help. And in the end, he can't help the workers, anyway; they have to make the ultimate decision themselves. He can only fill their hearts with hope and their heads with the dangerous idea of what America is supposed to be about.

'Bread and Roses' is rated R for brutal language and minor nudity. Dialog is in English and Spanish, with English subtitles as needed.

The Lagoon Cinema, which is represented by union projectionists, is at 1320 Lagoon Ave., in the Uptown neighborhood. For show times, call 612-825-6006.

For more information

Visit the Bread and Roses website: http://www.breadandrosesthemovie.com