Matewan

source: Matewan

John Sayles gives us one of the greatest peeks into the American labor struggle and the people who struggled for justice on the job. "Matewan" captures the hopes, fears and passions of working people from a variety of backgrounds. The image of David Strathairn's sheriff confronting the hired company goons (Kevin Tighe and Gordon Clapp) is unforgettable. I suppose I could go on and on but I will just leave it with this thought: "Matewan" is an American film-making masterpiece and Mr. Sayles is it's greatest director.

Thank goodness for Bravo TV. Never would have heard of, or seen, this movie without it. Chris Cooper is excellent, as usual, as is David Straithairn as the Sheriff trying to hold a town together while fighting the Company. Certainly nothing I ever heard about in History class, but what a beautifully made, realistically brutal view of the coal miners life, both in the mine and out.

> The movie never really takes off - it's evocative and reasonably > engrossing, > but seems too narrow in its scope; the final set-piece of the company > men > versus the miners, staged around the railway tracks with such > watered-down > Peckinpahisms as McDonnell shooting a villain through the white > sheets > hanging on the clothes line, is a straightforward good vs. > evil > confrontation, albeit followed only by desolation for the nominal victors. > Key plot devices like the conspiracy to discredit union man > Cooper, > foiled only at the last minute, may or may not have some basis in fact, > but > indicate the surprising simplicity of the storytelling - very few > characters > are allowed to attain much complexity, and Sayles' treatment of the black > and > Italian factions seems a bit too dutiful. I prefer those of his later works > that cast > a wider canvas, setting the human dramas against a defter explanation of > the > underlying politics and tensions - although it could be argued that > the > relative absence here of collectivist rhetoric underscores the > ultimate > hopelessness of the ideals and struggles (the movie was made at the > height > of the Reagan revolution after all). In its favour is the handsome, > dark > cinematography; some effective rabble-rousing here and there (Sayles > gives > the most striking performance as a fire and brimstone preacher), the > director's > usual smoothness and literacy - actually maybe a less traditionally > competent > movie would have worked better here.

John Sayles, a true American original and one this country's best directors created this masterpiece of the late 80s. Beautifully photographed in shades of brown and sepias, this movie tells a uniquely American tale of coal miners fighting for their rights in rural West Virginia in the early part of the 20th century. With early performances by Mary McDonnell and Chris Cooper as well as another fine portrayal by the legendary James Earl Jones. This film easily warrants anyone's top ten list.

When this film started out, I honestly thought it would end up boring me to death. But after about 20 minutes, I began to start really enjoying it. The whole idea of a town comming together to battle evil is certainly something special. Great performances from a great a cast, especially Chris Cooper, and James Earl Jones. This is an intense and gripping drama that will remind you of "The Grapes Of Wrath". A truly great surprise. 8.5/10.

Writer director John Sayles turns the pages of history back to West Virginia circa 1920, where overworked and underpaid employees of the Stone Mountain Coal Company attempt to unionize the mines, touching off a violent confrontation with company strikebreakers. The background is perfect for what should have been a tidy little historical drama, but Sayles opts for the romantic approach, with lots of photogenic poverty and soft-focus solidarity. His intentions are honorable, but the film is far too superficial to function as anything more than propaganda: the miners all wear halos, the company gunmen all have forked tails, and the final showdown comes after one too many subplot and campfire sermon. Capable performances and scenic photography aren't enough to compensate for an overplotted, overwritten script, which too often sounds like a grade school primer on early labor organization. The facts demand more than the two-dimensional treatment given here.

I saw this film again a few days ago after not having seen it since it's initial release back in '87. Despite some fine acting and good scenes here and there, I was disappointed in how sluggish the whole film was. The blame for this must rest squarely on the shoulders of director/writer John Sayles, who has trouble setting a good pace and finding a dramatic center for the film. At first it looks like Chris Cooper's union organizer character will have that role, but the film loses interest in him midway, spreading it's concentration willy-nilly among a variety of people. Some of the characters - chiefly the local sheriff Sid Hatfield - never get sufficient screen time to give their characters the dramatic weight they're supposed to have. It also doesn't help that the wonderful David Strathairn - who plays Hatfield - is forced to wear this hat that makes him look goofy, rather like a comic Walter Brennan character from a John Ford Western. There are fine individual performances: Strathairn, Cooper, James Earl Jones, Mary McDonnell, Will Oldham, and others. But Sayles just doesn't give the drama much momentum; the movie just moves along slowly from scene to scene. It's amazing that Sayles went on to write and direct the excellent "Eight Men Out" just the next year. All the problems on display here are barely evident with that film.

This 1987 film aims to document real events that concerned a small coal mining community (called Matewan) in West Virginia in 1920. The miners are trying to organize a union, much to the dismay of the company that employs them. All of the acting is great, including, in the starring role, Chris Cooper, (the Kansas City native who was the abusive father from American Beauty and who starred in another fantastic Sayles film from 1996, Lonestar), David Strathairn as the good-natured but stern police chief, and, in his only theatrical movie role ever (here at 14 years old), indie-folk legend Will Oldham, of Palace Music and Bonnie Prince Billie fame. He plays a preacher-in-training in the film, and does such a great job that it seems damn unfortunate for all of us that he didn't continue his acting career--though he would go on to make some great music, and continues to currently. It also features James Earl Jones, aka Darth Vader. Anyway, the film is very honest, subtle and exquisite. You don't feel, as you do with many films churned out by Hollywood, that things have been altered and embellished for the sake of making it interesting--it's very natural, and it seems very real. You're confidant that Sayles is giving you the truth here, as best he can, through his visual style, restrained, natural dialogue and engaging historic atmosphere. It's movies like this that renew my faith in period pieces. Important historical films at their best are able to capture a period and bring the audience as close as possible to experiencing the 'feel' of that time--I guess that kinda goes without saying though.

This is a powerful film depicting both the conditions under which most mineworkers labored and the social conditions existing in the 1920-1930 era of our American history. It accurately portrays the manner in which powerful industrial interests manipulated the worker's economic dependency using 'script' issued in lieu of lawful and legal tender and controlled the acquisition of basic needs such as shelter, food, and clothing. By "owning" the stores, controlling employment, threatening the physical well-being of its employees, and hiring of thugs to intimidate individuals and their ability to implement any organized mutual assistance, these wealthy and powerful companies sought to (and succeeded in ) maximizing their profits by using the labor of the poor and impotent at almost no cost to the company. One needs to search intensely to finally reveal the true history of our period of industrialization. It is of great credit to the producer's and director's of such films as "Matewan" that we can see clearly the history and ongoing great struggle between the working class and the wealthy elite to obtain their proper share of "profits." This is a film where one enters a theater to be "entertained", but leaves having the stirrings of compassion and outrage raised in their hearts. It reminds us that there is a human price paid for economic gain.