MEAT traces the process through which cattle and sheep become consumer goods. It depicts the processing and transportation of meat products by a highly automated packing plant, illustrating important points and problems in the area of production, transportation, logistics, equipment design, time-motion study, and labor management.
Direction
Wiseman's invisible observer—no narration, just brutal truth.
Editing
Rythmic juxtaposition of living animals and sterile product.
Sound
Machinery drone becomes industrial symphony of death.
Director
Frederick Wiseman
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Part of Wiseman's 'Institutional Series' examining American systems—hospitals, schools, now the meat machine.
The 1976 release coincided with growing consumer awareness of industrial food production, predating Fast Food Nation by decades.
US
