Details
Movie Description
The year is 1920, the setting Matewan, West Virginia, where the town's coal miners labor under miserable, unhealthy conditions. Enter Joe Kenehan (Chris Cooper), a rebellious union leader who wants to organize the West Virginian miners, as well as the Italians and blacks brought in as workers. Based on a real massacre in Matewan that started the 1920-1921 Coal War between miners and coal company thugs, MATEWAN subverts the convention of Westerns like HIGH NOON. Kenehan is not the drifter who will save the miners with his skill at a six-shooter; rather, he is a pacifist whose message of non-violent resistance the miners have difficulty accepting. The story is divided into four parts, alternating between times when Kenehan prevails and times when the instinct for revenge against the coal company wins out. The first large-scale historical epic made by director John Sayles (who once worked in the Meat Packer's Union), MATEWAN is a subtle strike against the anti-union climate of the 1980s and a moving portrait of the difficulties of collective action.
Synopsis
Director John Sayles's drama takes place in Matewan, West Virginia, circa 1920, where the town's coal miners labor under miserable, unhealthy conditions. Joe Kenehan, a rebellious union leader and a newcomer to Matewan, organizes the miners, resulting in a violent rebellion against their oppressors.
Film Notes
DVD Features:
Region 1
Sensormatic
Full Frame - 1.33
Filmed on location in Thurmond, West Virginia.
The film's budget was about $4 million.
Director John Sayles learned of the Matewan Massacre while hitchhiking across the United States in the summer of 1970. One of the big stories at the time was the murder of the union leader Joseph A. Yablonski in January of that year; Yablonski was assassinated as a result of a faction within the United Mine Workers union. The people Sayles met in West Virginia told him that the violence was nothing compared to what their ancestors experienced as a a result of the Matewan Massacre in 1920. Sayles learned more about the Matewan Massacre as he researched the novel UNION DUES.
"The United Mine Workers made a silent short film just after the massacre. It was called SMILIN' SID. But the only print was stolen by a coal company agent and never seen again. So I thought I'd do the remake."--Sayles to Kathy Huffhines of the Detroit Free Press (September 27, 1987)
Some of the characters--Sid Hatfield, C.E. Lively, Few Clothes Johnson--are based on real participants of the Matewan Massacre. The characters whose personal lives are treated in detail--Joe Kenehan, the preacher--are composites of figures Sayles read about.
Some of the crew and actors working on the film were descendants of Matewan survivors.
Sayles makes a cameo appearance in this film as a preacher.
Will Oldham (Danny Radnor) went on to become a singer-songwriter, performing under various names including Palace Music, Palace Brothers, and Bonnie Prince Billy.
Industry Reviews
"...The sweetness and simplicity of an Appalachian ballad....There's not a weak performance in the film..."
New York Times - p.C3 - Vincent Canby (08/28/1987)
"...MATEWAN is a heartfelt, straight-ahead tale of labor organizing in the coal mines of West Virginia in 1920....MATEWAN is certainly Sayles' best-looking, most professional film to date with period-perfect production design..."
Variety - Jagr. (05/20/1987)
"...Often inspiring....An American folk epic....[MATEWAN] has a wonderful period look, plus unerring cinematography by Wexler and acting with a rare ensemble vibrancy..."
Los Angeles Times - Michael Wilmington (09/11/1987)
"...A finely hewn tale of corruption set in a mining town....John Sayles' best picture to date..."
Total Film - Daniel Webb (07/01/2003)
Quotations
"I've been called nigger, and I can't help that's the way white folks is, but I ain't never been called no scab!"--Few Clothes Johnson (James Earl Jones) addressing the miners
"Ain't but two sides to this world. Them that work and them that don't. You work, they don't. That's all you got to know about the enemy."--Joe Kenehan (Chris Cooper) to the miners
"All we got is our misery, Joe Kenehan used to say, and the least we could do is share it."--Narrator to audience
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