Watch it. You will not regret it. 50 years and nothing has changed.
TSPDT 600, highest ranking 544 in 2016; Director: Barbara Kopple; Writer: Barbara Kopple; Watched July 29th on the Criterion Channel (Spine 334)
144 minutes. This documentary is very, very good. I loved it.
But I would like to first talk about the late 60s briefly. In the last year I have seen Black Panthers, The Times of Harvey Milk, and now Harlan County USA. Three films about the restlessness that drove the behavior of the youth across America. There are common talking points amongst the protestors in all of them, namely that the injustice has gone on long enough and it’s time for the people with all the power to give a little. In these worlds, there are people that crossed racial divides to fight for a common cause. There are old-timers that show up to discuss the way things were. These all grew from a small local event to a national story that changed the course of history in their own ways.
While Panthers and Harvey Milk took place in the most progressive and well known area of the country for change, San Francisco, Harlan happens in the coal mines of Eastern Kentucky. It’s a part of the country I know almost nothing about and I am so glad this film was chosen for the film club this week.
We follow a group of coal mine workers, and their wives, that have to strike for 13 months in order to get a new contract with the local mine owners. The houses they live in, that are provided by the company, have no hot water or common bathroom. They are also grossly underpaid and they understand that the parent company is having record-breaking years financially. This does not sit well with the workers and they go on strike. The strike does not sit well with the company and they send in strikebreakers (gun thugs) and hire new faces to work the mines (scabs).
The story of how the strike is resolved is compelling enough to probably make me interested in this documentary, but the way that Director Kopple captures the culture of Eastern Kentucky is truly a work of art. It’s inspiring. The soundtrack is mostly local songs about mining, frequently recorded by families from the area. The community is captured completely, from the housing communities the workers live in, the wives of the coal workers who become the real heroes of the strike, the way the sheriff handles events when he’s forced out, to the way local and then national union leaders continue to disappoint the local force.
This is a
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I’ve watched all three of these movies lately and i’m just totally in love with that style of documentary, no or minimal commentary, just slice of life immersed in an interesting community. I’d really appreciate if anyone has any recommendations for movies like these three! Doesn’t matter if they’re in the collection/on the channel or not, though on the channel would be nice. Thank you!
In NITW it seems there's a lot of talk about unions and a miners strike that took place where the national guard got involved and fought. It's mentioned in a few articles when you go to the library with Bea to find articles relating to ghosts. Angus also points out graves of 'bad guys' (national guard?) the miners didn't want buried in Possum springs.
This also seems very similar to the Harlan county war, except the Harlan county war took place in 1931 and Possum springs in the late 1800s.
Thoughts?
I am looking for films - documentary or fiction - reflecting the reality and normalization of exploitation at work, without romanticizing the issues.
What are your r/antiwork movie recommendations?
