Matewan (1987)

[Sebastian Cobb]

Anyone else seen this? It's about some miners in a company town that are unionising and end up fighting with the company that owns it, culminating in a massacre between the townspeople and the agency the company sent in.

It includes a great all-star cast including Chris Cooper (in his first role), James Earl Jones, Mary McDonnell, David Straithairn and Bob Gunton.

It was also, unusually unabashedly pro-union which was refreshing, and even though the main guy was against violence he seemed to be against it because he didn't want to play into the hands of the company's provocation, it didn't attempt to condemn the downtrodden characters that wanted a tear-up.

There's some really nice moments of collective struggle and once-enemies getting along.

If anyone's interested there's a decent rip on archive.org: https://archive.org/details/matewan-1987

[Keebleman]

Yeah, it's a good solid piece of work from John Sayles, who gives himself a juicy cameo near the start as the fire n brimstone preacher.

It's a little hurt though by the decision to cast as the pro-union preacher an actor (Will 'Bonnie Prince Billy' Oldham) who looks like a child rather than a young man, and it's much more seriously hurt by the decision to allow the actors playing the company men to give performances that would've looked comically unsubtle even in a 30s B-Western.

[Sebastian Cobb]

I kind of thought the child preacher thing was ok, he was only 15 I think and it is exclaimed he's still a boy, and he mentions there's younger than him in the mines, and Few Clothes mentions he was in the mines at 10.

Agreed on the villains being cartoonish, especially where they're laughing and pissed-up in church, just so you *know* they're godless bastards. Although in general the church scenes are great. I can kind of rationalise this though given just how unashamed of being pro-union the film is overall. And also these bastards did exist to an extent.

Spoiler alert

and Elma blasting the guy away through her washing was a great moment

[close]

I thought the succinct introduction to how company towns worked was good as well with most of your wages (in pretend money) going immediately back to them for provisions to do the job.

[Shit Good Nose]

Between this and Lone Star as my favourite Sayles film.

It's being released here on blu in a couple of months time (Studio Canal I think).  Not sure if it uses Criterion's recent remaster, overseen by Sayles, or if they've done their own master.  Some weren't happy with the altered colour palette of the Criterion blu.

[Sebastian Cobb]

Between this and Lone Star as my favourite Sayles film.

It's being released here on blu in a couple of months time (Studio Canal I think).  Not sure if it uses Criterion's recent remaster, overseen by Sayles, or if they've done their own master.  Some weren't happy with the altered colour palette of the Criterion blu.

I'd never really been aware of Sayles before looking at the filmography, although I'd heard of Brother from Another Planet, which I've now got my hands on and will watch shortly.

[Shit Good Nose]

I'd never really been aware of Sayles before looking at the filmography, although I'd heard of Brother from Another Planet, which I've now got my hands on and will watch shortly.

Excellent little film, but nothing at all like Matewan.