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Matewan
May 26, 2008 01:15 PM
John Sayles 1987 epic Matewan, based on true events from the 1920s, chronicles West Virginia Coal Miners and their struggles for unionisation.
Filmed on location, Matewan stars Chris Cooper, Mary McDonnell and James Earl Jones in a thoughtful work that avoids simple polemics. The dispute itself followed from a battle for recognition and the response of the owners to cut wages and bring in outside workers. That the ‘scabs’ are black workers allows the film to explore the uneasy relationship between race and class at this point in US labour history.
At the heart of the film are United Mineworkers Organiser Joe Kenahan and Miners Widow Elma Radnor - who runs the guest house in town. What follows is a tale of agent provocateurs, company violence, and betrayals, which run inexorably down to the final shoot out. There’s even a confrontation between a teenage pro-union preacher and a red-baiting minister (a cameo played by Sayles himself)! Beyond these dramatic events though, Matewan has much to say about hierarchies of struggle and about violence and non-violence, all stunningly filmed with a true sense of place.
Certificate: 15
Language: English
Year: 1987
Type: Feature
Running Time: 135mins
