MATEWAN
Preshow Entertainment: Motown: The '60s
Tagline: It takes more than guns to kill a man.
IN MATEWAN, WRITER/DIRECTOR JOHN SAYLES MINES THE TRUE STORY OF LABOR UNION VS. COAL CO.
AND YOU CAN BET YOUR ASS THERE WILL BE BLOOD.
PRESHOW ENTERTAINMENT:AND YOU CAN BET YOUR ASS THERE WILL BE BLOOD.
We watched a wacky concept for a video called MOTOWN: THE '60S. Released on VHS in 1986, the tape featured a selection, sometimes questionable, of Motown songs against visuals of the times. They went year by year through all 10 years. While the footage was kind of cool, the marrying of music to video was sometimes offputting. And the only two vanity credits at the top were "A Gino Tanasescu Film" and "Written and Directed by Gino Tanasescu."
AND NOW, OUR FEATURE PRESENTATION:
With the help of strong actors, John Sayles made what I believe to be his best movie. I know a lot of you would vote for EIGHT MEN OUT or RETURN OF THE SECAUCUS SEVEN. And I'm sure someone out there would even vote for his I'M ON FIRE video for Springsteen. But I say it's MATEWAN.
The movie begins with a lone coal miner adjusting the flame on his helmet. He shimmies into a crawlspace, coughing and spitting (what I imagine is blackened saliva) as he loads a charge deep in the mine's wall. He's approached by 14 year old Danny, who informs him that the coal company reduced the tonnage rate of the coal. And since the miners get paid by weight, that's bad. The dynamite's fuse is lit over the title of the movie.
Matewan, West Virginia. 1920. The Stone Mountain Coal Company has sent a couple of thugs to assist in the breaking up of the union which is just emerging in that neck of the woods. And in case you don't think Stone Mountain is evil, well, the black workers they hire as scabs truly owe their soul to the company store (actually called Stone Mountain Company Store). Everything they do and use requires a rental fee that adds up to no take home pay.
But even stripping away the acting and the photography by Haskell Wexler, MATEWAN is a prime example of storytelling. There's conflict on every level. It's not just Union Vs. Stone Mountain, it's also the inner conflict of whether each group (locals, blacks, Italians) should unionize or not. Because with joining the union, there would certainly be sacrifices made. And some were huge.
And there are some truly riveting scenes, like Danny testifying code in church, or when one of the miners gets caught stealing. There's even a wonderful twist you wouldn't expect in such a straightforward drama. Aside from a couple of scenes that are heavy-handed, there is a simple honesty to the movie. I think that's attractive, and rare.
Sayles (who cameos here as a preacher) is one of the most inspiring filmmakers around. He takes the money he makes writing big movies and makes his own. He is King Indie, always working outside the studio gates. So it's no wonder the story of MATEWAN is about how the working man reacts to the bullying of the studio, errr, I mean, the big coal company.
This is not the first coal mining/union movie we've seen in the club. THE MOLLY MAGUIRES, starring Sean Connery, took place a few decades earlier and a few hours north, and had many similar themes, but it was flat and uninteresting. MATEWAN is compelling, with rich characters that you root for and feel for. Having not seen MATEWAN since 1987, I was a bit nervous that it wouldn't hold up, or that my tastes have changed, or more likely that I remembered it as a much better movie than it really was. So I was thrilled to find it every bit as good as I remembered. I really think this is one of those overlooked films that should have achieved "classic" status by now.
Tags: random movie club, matewan, chris cooper, mary mcdonnell, matewan massacre, motown '60s
