Harlan County, U.S.A. 1977. Directed by Barbara Kopple.

(6/17/01)

Harlan County was considered an important film--at least, I magine it was--when I was in college and taking film classes. I certainly think it was the kind of film that would have appealed to Alida Walsh. So it had a kind of nostalgic appeal for me.

I was surprised that it was in color. I would have thought that it was in black-and-white. The color was muted and looked as if it had been shot in 16mm and blown up to 35mm--or maybe it was just that the print was faded. Anyway, I think that the mood did fit the mood of the picture.

It has a feel of authentic Americana. This film is the real stuff, about American lives and American problems. It also has an epic quality, as its subject matter is a hard fought war against injustice. And for a documentary, and not a dramatic recreation, it was pretty absorbing.

This is a film about plain, hard-working folk--about as plain and hard-working as they come--who are killing themselves in mines and not even paid a decent living. They die--either in the mines or because of them. A lot of them can't afford to retoire, even though they are old enough. And they are for all intents and purposes owned by the company.

What impressed me in this film was the power of group energy. People working together were able to overcome some pretty heavy odds. I was also impressed by the power of song to uplift and to motivate.

I found the film hard to follow, probably because I don't know very much about its subjects. I don't know much about mining and I don't know much about striking. There was something about some murders and then it was afterwards and I realized that I had missed the gist of it.

I was tired and out of it when I saw this picture. I really should see it again.

(6/21/01)

I wanted to mention something else about Harlan County, U.S.A. After the strikers win after a long struggle we are made to understand that this is just the beginning. It seems that one of the things they won was the right to strike--which I didn't realize they hadn't had since they were striking. And it looks like their game plan is to just continue striking over and over, demanding more and more. One of the miners or their leaders actually says something to the effect that there is no end to the struggle, that it is something that goes on and on, with no end in sight.

Up until this part of the film it is impossible not to feel sympathy with the miners, even if I question some of their tactics such as the blocking of roads. But at this point I felt myself losing sympathy for them and their escalating demands and starting to wonder about the effect of their actions on the economy. In fact, it crossed my mind that they seemed like spoiled children.