John Sayles: The Filmmaker's Take on the World of Henry Ford

About this episode

John Sayles discusses his filmmaking career and his latest historical novel about the Ford Motor Company.

John Sayles is a prolific filmmaker who, since The Return of the Secaucus Seven in 1980, hasn't been afraid to take on big political themes. In 17 films and eight novels (as well as short-story collections and screenplays) he looks at a specific moment in the historical record from multiple perspectives. Sayles' latest work is Crucible , a closely observed historical novel that looks at the Ford Motor Company from the introduction of the Model A to the postwar period. It includes the fight for unionization (and union busters), the boss' anti-Semitism, the immigrants' experience, and Fordlandia, the ill-fated attempt to grow rubber (for tires) in Brazil.

People in this episode

Host: Jim Motavalli

Guest: John Sayles

Topics covered

• filmmaking
• political themes
• historical perspective
• unionization
• immigrant experience
• Ford Motor Company

Keywords

• John Sayles
• Ford Motor Company
• Crucible
• unionization
• political themes
• immigrants
• Henry Ford

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Ford Motor Company

Books & works: Crucible

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