A Bread Factory

Figuring at the absolute top tier of the rankings for the Best Film of the Year on Metacritic, which surveys the leading U.S. film critics, A Bread Factory is a two-part revelation of a movie that’s also simply a huge amount of fun — and close to home for our staff and patrons who can appreciate the importance of local community arts organizations.

Sprawling over four hours and screening in two parts, Patrick Wang’s A Bread Factory has an immense cast, a deliberate pace and thematic ambition to spare — but it also has a ground-level, plain-spoken modesty that renders it hypnotic. The Bread Factory of the film’s title hasn’t made any actual bread for decades. Rather, for 40 or so years, it has served as a community arts center for the fictional town of Checkford, N.Y. Locals perform in its plays. Children volunteer backstage. Visiting artists give classes. Even school board meetings — where the Factory’s fiscal fate is decided — are held there. Managing this quaint but essential institution are the headstrong theater director Dorothea (Tyne Daly) and her actress partner Greta (Elisabeth Henry).

[The film] initially focuses on their attempt to combat the efforts of a well-funded, Chinese-owned avant-garde arts duo named May Ray to open a space next door and siphon off a key grant that allows the Factory to survive. This forces Dorothea and Greta, along with their friend Jan (Glynnis O’Connor), the longtime editor of the Checkford Journal, to try to persuade members of the school board to vote against May Ray, who have powerful lawyers and movie stars working for them” —New York Times.

Unrated. Part 1: 122 Min. Part 2: 120 Min.

Part 1 will be shown Saturday at noon; Part 2 will be shown Sunday at noon. A single $10 ticket grants admission to both parts.

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