Matewan (1987)

☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

Matewan (1987) – J. Sayles

Director John Sayles and his ensemble present a nuanced look at the union movement’s struggles in the 1920s, focusing specifically on a coal mining town in West Virginia.  Chris Cooper (in his first leading role) plays the organiser who arrives to support the miners who are being completely taken advantage of by the Company (they owe their souls to the company store).  The workers are divided and swiftly being replaced by scabs, drawn from the black and Italian communities – but Cooper is able to convince the entire group to strike together.  His main goal is a peaceful strike but the men are ready to fight back violently, particularly when the Company sends a few head breakers in.  Of course, this is exactly what the Company wants – to complete decimate the Union and frighten the men.  Moreover, a Company mole inside the movement threatens to destroy all that Cooper has worked for.  Will Oldham (Bonnie Prince Billy) and Mary McDonnell run the boarding house where Cooper first stays – before everyone is moved to a camp when the Company evicts them.  Sayles captures the feel of rural America in the 20s with its mix of evangelical religion, hillbillies, cultural divides, and poverty.  But most of all he shows us how the working rights we enjoy today were secured by the sacrifices of men and women who unionised.