Harlan County USA chronicles the last big strike here in Harlan county. It is very one sided and sympathizes with the miners and their families. But that is okay, considering that the miners were in the right. The film shows the utterly dismal conditions that coal operators were willing to put other human beings through to make a little more profit. The coal operator has never been a well liked person here in eastern Kentucky. Kopple does an excellent job of presenting life here and the solidarity among the strikers. She brilliantly juxtaposes the natural beauty against the extreme poverty. And it isn't just thirty years ago that there were places without running water. I know of homes without as recent as 1996 that had no running water and dirt floors. Sadly the mines that brought this area a little bit of wealth has almost completely died out. Strip mining has damaged a lot of our mountains and ruined streams. Mines are beginning to reopen after the Bush administrations relaxing of regulations. But they are hiring illegals to work at slave wages. The feudalistic society still pervades to this day here in Harlan county. I am glad to read all the glowing revues of the film and the affection expressed for the working people of Harlan county. Keep us in your minds and hearts and make sure as many people as possible see this film.
66 Reviews
unique and enlightening documentary chronicles labor strike
Catbutt16 June 1999
This movie is a must-see for fans of socially active documentary film, or for those interested in the American labor movement.
It sometimes loses momentum as it documents the details of a particular labor strike in a mining town in rural Kentucky; yet that particular strike yields many memorable moments, including flashes of violence and revelatory dialogue. The company men are deliciously slick and slimy, and their goons are so ornery, that it's easy to forget that these people are real!
Where this film is at its best is where it uses historical footage and traditional labor songs to tie the strike to the larger past, and also where it explores other details of these people's lives -health issues, living conditions- that aren't specific to the strike. In this sense, the film becomes an important historical document of its own accord; unique, compelling, and enlightening to future generations.
It sometimes loses momentum as it documents the details of a particular labor strike in a mining town in rural Kentucky; yet that particular strike yields many memorable moments, including flashes of violence and revelatory dialogue. The company men are deliciously slick and slimy, and their goons are so ornery, that it's easy to forget that these people are real!
Where this film is at its best is where it uses historical footage and traditional labor songs to tie the strike to the larger past, and also where it explores other details of these people's lives -health issues, living conditions- that aren't specific to the strike. In this sense, the film becomes an important historical document of its own accord; unique, compelling, and enlightening to future generations.
My favorite film
neilpollock5 May 2001
Warning: Spoilers
After voting for almost 1000 films in the Internet Movie Database I rate Harlan County USA as the best film I've ever seen. I think that means that it moved me more than any other. I've seen it four times but not for many years.
Last night I watched the made for TV Harlan County War, but switched the video off half way through. It didn't add anything to the original documentary which also covered this long strike at the Brookside mine in 1973. In fact the dramatisation made the unfolding events of the strike look somewhat predictable and cliched - playing out with similarities to Norma Rae.
In Barbara Kopple's film I was horrified that the strike was over something we here take for granted in Australia - the simple right for the workforce at a place of employment to be represented by a labor union. The hypocrisy of the US government's persistent claim that the nation is a leader in democratic rights was never been made so apparent (except perhaps in Salt of the Earth)
What's so great about Harlan County USA?
* The clarity of the portrayal of the grotesque power of monopoly capital
* The way Koppel and crew are right in there, every day, every night - totally committed to the struggle, not just observers They're not your back to the city at 5pm chroniclers - they're in there for the long haul.
* The way that representatives of Duke Power so eloquently state their sheer nastiness and lack of basic humanity
* The evocative portrayal of the tensions amongst the strikers and the ebbs and flows of enthusiasm, optimism, despair, pessimism, solidarity, and opportunism.
* The way it captures the dimension of violence in US labor relations - in the land of the gun.
* The emergence of stong women and the pivotal role they played.
* The haunting music of Hazel Dickens.
* The moving songs of black-lung affected Nimrod Workman.
* The dramatic juxtaposition of the beauty of the woods and hollows and the grinding poverty and deplorable living conditions.
* The broader chronicling of the conditions in the "Other America".
* The trip to New York to put their case and a great conversation between a Kentucky miner and a police officer.
Above all this is a film that can inspire the powerless to take on the mighty - because working people do have tremendous bargaining power, if they stay resilient and united.
Last night I watched the made for TV Harlan County War, but switched the video off half way through. It didn't add anything to the original documentary which also covered this long strike at the Brookside mine in 1973. In fact the dramatisation made the unfolding events of the strike look somewhat predictable and cliched - playing out with similarities to Norma Rae.
In Barbara Kopple's film I was horrified that the strike was over something we here take for granted in Australia - the simple right for the workforce at a place of employment to be represented by a labor union. The hypocrisy of the US government's persistent claim that the nation is a leader in democratic rights was never been made so apparent (except perhaps in Salt of the Earth)
What's so great about Harlan County USA?
* The clarity of the portrayal of the grotesque power of monopoly capital
* The way Koppel and crew are right in there, every day, every night - totally committed to the struggle, not just observers They're not your back to the city at 5pm chroniclers - they're in there for the long haul.
* The way that representatives of Duke Power so eloquently state their sheer nastiness and lack of basic humanity
* The evocative portrayal of the tensions amongst the strikers and the ebbs and flows of enthusiasm, optimism, despair, pessimism, solidarity, and opportunism.
* The way it captures the dimension of violence in US labor relations - in the land of the gun.
* The emergence of stong women and the pivotal role they played.
* The haunting music of Hazel Dickens.
* The moving songs of black-lung affected Nimrod Workman.
* The dramatic juxtaposition of the beauty of the woods and hollows and the grinding poverty and deplorable living conditions.
* The broader chronicling of the conditions in the "Other America".
* The trip to New York to put their case and a great conversation between a Kentucky miner and a police officer.
Above all this is a film that can inspire the powerless to take on the mighty - because working people do have tremendous bargaining power, if they stay resilient and united.
Gritty and real.
magellan33314 December 2002
Warning: Spoilers
Harlan County USA might surprise viewers that even in the 1970s, large communities existed without indoor plumbing. This documentary is disturbing in that even during the late 20th century, conditions like the one in the movie still existed. Viewers experience many different things as the documentary unfolds; the dangers and pains of working in a coal mine, the corruption of unions and their non-union opposition, and the mind set of American laborers. Harlan County USA is a great documentary and not to be missed by those interested in American labor and the coal mining industry.
Which Side Are You On?
mockturtle12 June 2006
Warning: Spoilers
Possibly the finest documentary I have seen and I've seen quite a few. Exemplary on how a filmmaker can involve herself, be in everybody's face, get every little thing on camera, but be testifying instead of exploiting. My greatest delight in this film was how articulate and intelligent the miners and their wives were; textbook English is far inferior to their language. Also see "Matewan" by John Sayles for another perfect evocation of struggle. Watching this movie makes my previous semi-respectful estimation of Michael Moore's self-love evaporate. This is how it should be done, and lord if only all such struggles resolved thusly. Lois Scott for president. See this as quickly as you can.
Workin' on a Contract
MacAindrais4 March 2007
Harlan County USA (1976) ****
I used to consider Gates of Heaven and Harlan County USA as in deadlock for the best documentary ever made, but upon watching Harlan County USA again and all the extras available on the Criterion DVD, I have no choice but to move it into the sole number One position. The sense of dread and danger of Harlan County USA elevates it to a whole new level, making it perhaps the most watchable documentary ever made as well - its tense subject matter and the incredible footage captured by Kopple and her crew make it play as a feature film. Kopple's intimate participatory style makes the film even more poignant. The film crew was there with the strikers, amidst the bullets and beatings, at one point being singled out for attack and were beaten by the mining company militants. That they were there meant that they got some absolutely incredible footage, such as the scene described above, and when they catch the main strike breaker pointing his gun at them on film.
Harlan County USA is also an important social document, now housed in the national film registry for preservation. Scenes such as children being washed in buckets, in the 1970s, in the "beacon of freedom and democracy" The United States of America, really get beyond the rhetoric and show how the government and the big business agenda often trumps the rights of workers - its about maximizing profits not lives.
4/4
I used to consider Gates of Heaven and Harlan County USA as in deadlock for the best documentary ever made, but upon watching Harlan County USA again and all the extras available on the Criterion DVD, I have no choice but to move it into the sole number One position. The sense of dread and danger of Harlan County USA elevates it to a whole new level, making it perhaps the most watchable documentary ever made as well - its tense subject matter and the incredible footage captured by Kopple and her crew make it play as a feature film. Kopple's intimate participatory style makes the film even more poignant. The film crew was there with the strikers, amidst the bullets and beatings, at one point being singled out for attack and were beaten by the mining company militants. That they were there meant that they got some absolutely incredible footage, such as the scene described above, and when they catch the main strike breaker pointing his gun at them on film.
Harlan County USA is also an important social document, now housed in the national film registry for preservation. Scenes such as children being washed in buckets, in the 1970s, in the "beacon of freedom and democracy" The United States of America, really get beyond the rhetoric and show how the government and the big business agenda often trumps the rights of workers - its about maximizing profits not lives.
4/4
harlan sings the blues
postmanwhoalwaysringstwice24 October 2006
Barbara Kopple's 1976 documentary "Harlan County USA" remains one of the finest portraits of the struggle between faceless and greedy corporations and the employees who work themselves to the bone to eke out a living. The film deals with a coal miner's strike in a small Kentucky town during the early 70s. These seemingly insurmountable odds to strike up agreements between the company and the union in this Harlan County town dip back as far as a bloody battle there during the 1930s.
The miners and the picketers are captured via a well-maintained cinema verite style to the point that much of the early dialogue in the film is indiscernible and lingers there only as a means to introduce the tone. Music plays a key role in the emotional impact of this gritty film as well. Considering it takes place in the Bluegrass State, it comes as no surprise that so many of the most intense moments in the film carry with them a heart-wrenching rendition of roots music, most of which pertain specifically to coal mining.
"Harlan County USA" removes the presumptions that such human atrocities are far gone memories of America's past, and would pave the way for other important pro-workers rights films as "Norma Rae", "Silkwood", and "Matewan".
The miners and the picketers are captured via a well-maintained cinema verite style to the point that much of the early dialogue in the film is indiscernible and lingers there only as a means to introduce the tone. Music plays a key role in the emotional impact of this gritty film as well. Considering it takes place in the Bluegrass State, it comes as no surprise that so many of the most intense moments in the film carry with them a heart-wrenching rendition of roots music, most of which pertain specifically to coal mining.
"Harlan County USA" removes the presumptions that such human atrocities are far gone memories of America's past, and would pave the way for other important pro-workers rights films as "Norma Rae", "Silkwood", and "Matewan".
Fascinating and frightening documentary
preppy-318 July 2011
Warning: Spoilers
Oscar-winner documentary about a violent and hard-fought 13-month strike that happened in Harlan KY with miners. The miners didn't like the contract and went on strike when the company refused to change the contract. Director Barbara Kopple and her crew befriended the miners. In return the miners talked with her and invited her into their houses and their meetings. The miners dealt with horrendous living conditions. The company built shacks they lived in had no bathrooms or running water and the miners worked in hazardous conditions. The majority of the film centers on the wives of the miners who fight with and for their husbands. They're strong proud women and NEVER back down. The strike gets nasty and finally ends with a young miner being killed. The sequence showing his funeral is almost unbearable to watch--the agony of his widowed wife and mother is just heart-rendering. It all ends with the company backing down and ratifying the contract--but a young man had to die before this.
I know nothing about mining or Kentucky and this was an eye opener. I'm guessing conditions aren't half as bad as they once were but it's incredible what these people dealt with back in 1975. A worthy Oscar winner. A must-see.
I know nothing about mining or Kentucky and this was an eye opener. I'm guessing conditions aren't half as bad as they once were but it's incredible what these people dealt with back in 1975. A worthy Oscar winner. A must-see.
What side are you on? Don't know about you, but I like this film. Very Powerful.
ironhorse_iv12 July 2013
Warning: Spoilers
This film is a must see for everyone. So powerful and provokes so many different emotions on different levels. This 1976 Oscar-winning documentary film is amazing film that documents the coal miners' strike against Duke Power Mining Company in Harlan County, Kentucky. Duke Power refusal to sign a contract that would allow the miners to join with the United Mine Workers of America. By joining the UMWA, the workers would had safer working conditions, fair labor practices, and decent wages that Duke Power weren't eager to do for them. The documentary covers the violent clashes between gun-toting company thugs and the picketing miners. Director Barbara Kopple puts the strike into perspective by giving us some background on the historical plight of the miners and some history of the UMWA. It's mention a bit about 1930's The Harlan County War in the film, but I wish they did talk more about it. The Harlan County War was a series of coal mining-related skirmishes, executions, bombings, and strikes between the mining company and its workers. The county has been the site of repeated attempts to organize labor and gain better deals from owners, beginning in the early 20th century, primarily related to the coal mining industry. Violent confrontations among strikers, strikebreakers, mine company security forces and law enforcement are just part of life there. Director Barbara Kopple who has long been an advocate of workers' rights was initially intended to make a film about Kenzie, Miners for Democracy and the attempt to unseat Tony Boyle, the current president of the United Mine Workers of America union at the time. When news broke out about what was happening in Harlan County, she went over to cover it. Kopple and her crew spent years with the families depicted in the film, documenting the dire straits they find themselves in while striking. The film following them to picket in front of the stock exchange in New York, filming interviews with people affected by black lung disease, and even catching miners being shot at while striking. There's no narration. Only the words and actions of the miners and their families are heard. The people tell the entire story. It's a unique and very interesting film. The background noise in some interviews can be a bit annoying when children, animal noises and the machine noise makes it hard to hear, you're trying to listen in what the people being interview are trying to say. The film was brilliant and showed not only the actual living conditions in a mine town, but gave insight into the daily lives of people setting out to get what they perceived as their due from a behemoth of an employer. I came away from this film feeling that I knew more about Appalachia, it's people, and their resolve. I learned to appreciate them as individuals. Dirt roads, no plumbing, wages lower than the standard living condition rates, abused mentally and physically by a large monopolistic corporation, and a lack of a full education are all factors that led to the strike of the minors in Harlan County. Some people who watch it, might not understand what they go through. Too many will only hear the strange way the people speak and consider them dumb or white trash. Not using some narration to tell the story was the only fault I ever found with the film. There is a number of interesting characters. One central figure in the film is Lois Scott, who spur the community in support of the strike. It's nice to see woman play a great role in labor causes. The most effective picketers were the miners' wives, but even the ladies had to be careful. The documentary contains an infamous scene where guns are fired at the strikers in the darkness before dawn, and Kopple and her cameraman are knocked down and beaten. Then there was a scene in which human brain matter was shown, that can be a bit disturbing for any weak-stomach viewers. Kopple felt it was important to continue filming or pretend to, when they were out of fill because their presence and support actually kept the violence down. Great documentary. Makes you believe in Unions and collective bargaining power. The sad thing is some Unions don't do squat for people except get you a yearly pay raise. I would have love more balance to shows the pros and cons of having a Union. Yes, some unions are filled with corruption and theft. The days of a worker getting paid $40 an hour to watch a machine are over, America can't afford people to have those type jobs. The real hard working people are the ones who start a business from scratch take the risks and those people supply jobs & write most people paychecks. Still, some people here have been brainwashed to believe that Union means Mafia or communism, of course, it isn't. In this film, the Union seem like a just cause. The film does a good job chronicling the plight of the miners and telling their personal stories in a moving way, and the meaningful catchy coal mining songs add to the emotional impact of the historical event. Opening song "Dark as a Dungeon." Written by Merle Travie tells how it is to work in a mine. One of the highlights of the film is seeing Florence Reece sing the 1931's "Which Side Are You On?". Other great bluegrass and folks songs in the soundtrack were written by Hazel Dickens, and others. All of them pretty much help set the settling and tone of the film. Overall: You must be very prosperous and powerful not to like this movie, and not to be able to sympathize with the suffering, hard-working classes of people such as coal miners. If you were to experience true hardship you might eventually develop understanding of people who are devoted to telling the story of impoverished, oppressed people and their spokespeople. So check it out.
Reassessment
timmcgahren19 February 2014
This film is wonderful. It is horrible and sad and gripping but wonderful. I am by no means pro union, but this is a perfect example of why they need to exist as an option.
I can't believe it was so recently that companies were hiring brutal men to terrorize their workers over money.
The movie is set in Harlan County, and there is not much to say but that you are watching history unfold, with all of it's rage and fire, and bloodshed, tears and strength.
Nothing is hidden and it is very powerful. People willing to die for what they believe in, it is very eye opening. The people were real, fearless, and their struggle raw.
There are real villains here, the gun toting hired thugs, and the company who seems OK with the way things are handled. Murdering poor people over a few cents and common sense benefits. Sad.
The most poignant memory of the film for me was how they tricked a truly injured man into coming back to the work site so that they could deny him worker's comp. Quite shocking.
I can't believe it was so recently that companies were hiring brutal men to terrorize their workers over money.
The movie is set in Harlan County, and there is not much to say but that you are watching history unfold, with all of it's rage and fire, and bloodshed, tears and strength.
Nothing is hidden and it is very powerful. People willing to die for what they believe in, it is very eye opening. The people were real, fearless, and their struggle raw.
There are real villains here, the gun toting hired thugs, and the company who seems OK with the way things are handled. Murdering poor people over a few cents and common sense benefits. Sad.
The most poignant memory of the film for me was how they tricked a truly injured man into coming back to the work site so that they could deny him worker's comp. Quite shocking.
Seems regrettably timeless
Jeremy_Urquhart6 May 2023
This is a movie about a coal miner's strike in the 1970s. No reason I'm watching this today... no sir, no reason at all.
I guess it just goes to show how struggles with the cost of living aren't anything new, and this documentary does a great job of dispelling the idea that everyday people are greedy and want excessive amounts of money. I think most people are underpaid, and people just want the kind of compensation that will lower the stress of life. Bosses and people in charge always seem to hoard money. If this is the way things have to be run, then people who do hard work (and a lot of it) should be appropriately compensated. It's just a shame that some people view protests like this as radical or excessive, and I think a documentary like Harlan County USA could help change minds and attitudes.
Look, it's overall a very good documentary. The simple, natural style works. It's persuasive. Unions are good. I can't fault this stuff.
But this genuinely has one of the worst soundtracks I've ever heard, so uh, I'm sorry... points off for that (the god-awful music just never stops either).
I guess it just goes to show how struggles with the cost of living aren't anything new, and this documentary does a great job of dispelling the idea that everyday people are greedy and want excessive amounts of money. I think most people are underpaid, and people just want the kind of compensation that will lower the stress of life. Bosses and people in charge always seem to hoard money. If this is the way things have to be run, then people who do hard work (and a lot of it) should be appropriately compensated. It's just a shame that some people view protests like this as radical or excessive, and I think a documentary like Harlan County USA could help change minds and attitudes.
Look, it's overall a very good documentary. The simple, natural style works. It's persuasive. Unions are good. I can't fault this stuff.
But this genuinely has one of the worst soundtracks I've ever heard, so uh, I'm sorry... points off for that (the god-awful music just never stops either).
Outstanding Documentary
evanston_dad5 October 2022
Everything you've heard about "Harlan County, U. S. A" is true.
Barbara Kopple's expose on union strife in a Kentucky mining community is powerful, powerful stuff. This is the kind of movie I watch and then decide that I don't have any real problems to complain about. Movies like this should be required viewing, because they bring exposure to populations of Americans who no one ever talks about or seems to care about, who people immediately stereotype, and who people dismiss as not important enough to be part of the conversation. But these people are TOUGH, man! How many Americans can actually say with truth that they've stood up for something that could mean literal life or death for themselves and their families? These people did.
"Harlan County, U. S. A" won the 1976 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature, but it's also one of the best movies to come out that year, period.
Grade: A+
Barbara Kopple's expose on union strife in a Kentucky mining community is powerful, powerful stuff. This is the kind of movie I watch and then decide that I don't have any real problems to complain about. Movies like this should be required viewing, because they bring exposure to populations of Americans who no one ever talks about or seems to care about, who people immediately stereotype, and who people dismiss as not important enough to be part of the conversation. But these people are TOUGH, man! How many Americans can actually say with truth that they've stood up for something that could mean literal life or death for themselves and their families? These people did.
"Harlan County, U. S. A" won the 1976 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature, but it's also one of the best movies to come out that year, period.
Grade: A+
An Above Average Documentary
Uriah435 August 2013
Filmed during the coal strike of 1974-1975, this documentary does much to capture the tension brought on by the injustice of the coal operators to the coal miners in Harlan County, Kentucky. All too many Americans are under the naive belief that, while unions may have been necessary in the 30's, they are no longer needed in the United States today. If you're one of these people then I suggest you watch this documentary and remember that this was shot in the mid-70's. You might also do well to research how so many of the mine companies are ignoring safety infractions with complete impunity even now. They ignored over 200 at the Sago Mine in West Virginia just last year. And coal companies are still doing it at this very moment in other mines across the country. All the coal miners-and every other American worker-want is a living wage and to be treated with respect. That's all. It's unfortunate that there are those at the top who simply have no desire to do that. It's equally unfortunate that so many at the top have been allowed to get away with so much without justice being served. That said, this is an above average documentary and I recommend it to anyone who believes in liberty and justice for all.
Left wing propaganda
jefemark3 November 2019
Awesome Documentary
harleydman19558 August 2006
Thank you Ms. Kopple for your courage and resolve to show the world the struggle of a brave group of men and women who were willing to lay down their lives for what they believed. I am an ex-coal miner from Harlan County and I remember the Brookside strike vividly. You portrayed the sorrow and joy of these courageous families. When I was watching the documentary I was shocked to see a portion where union miners were at the bridge attempting to stop the scabs from crossing the bridge and going to work. I was one of those men who wanted to stand with their union brothers against the tyranny of the coal operators. This was the only time I was arrested in my entire life but the union organizer made sure we never spent one second behind bars. This gripping documentary brings back wonderful memories of a time in my life when I joined myself to a group of people I didn't know for a common cause. There is something refreshing about fighting for what you dearly believe in and you brought the struggle of many to light for the whole world to see. I only wish you had your camera with me when the state troopers roughed me up before putting me in the back seat of one of the cruisers. At this point I feared for my life because all of my union brothers were at the bridge and I was surrounded by scabs waiting for the bridge to clear so they could go to work. All previous comments were very touching to read from one who lived during those days and was involved almost daily manning the picket line for our union brothers. Peace!
there is no middle ground in the fight for justice
lee_eisenberg2 August 2021
Barbara Kopple's Academy Award-winning "Harlan County U. S. A." chronicles a coal miners' strike in rural Kentucky. Lest you think that this strike was merely about a "disagreement", the company sent in scabs and even gunmen to target the workers. The documentary perfectly - and chillingly - captures everything. The song "Which Side Are You On?" encapsulates the entire mood.
If ever there were a movie that those in power don't want you to see, this is it. It remains relevant to this day, especially as union membership has declined so much. Definitely see this.
If ever there were a movie that those in power don't want you to see, this is it. It remains relevant to this day, especially as union membership has declined so much. Definitely see this.
Music plays specific role
jason-harre9 May 2003
Film Review: `The Music Shaping Harlan County USA' Musical themes in documentaries are a key factor in setting the overall mood for the audience. The documentary Harlan County USA accentuates and enhances the validity of this characteristic. Directed by Barbara Kopple in 1976, this feature bestows more than the typical boring news interview with miners on strike in Kentucky. Kopple structures her material to provide tension, vivid characterizations and dramatic confrontations through the usage of music. More so however, it is because of early documentaries such as Harlan County USA that has aided in deriving a propaganda filled news genre of today. In the documentary, music brings an audience not only into a sense of what the times were like in association with the middle of the 20th century, but also is justifiably imposing compassion in the hearts of the viewing audience. This has led to a trend of propaganda found in nearly all news documentaries about controversial topics evolving around human welfare. To acknowledge this topic, the term propaganda must be understood more loosely than its general association with war. Propaganda is not always negative, and is frequently used in news stories to gain sympathy and mix emotions on a specific topic. For instance, if a story is proposed on ABC's 20/20 about child molestation, a theme of insecurity is a requisite for success. There are numerous tools that could be used for developing propaganda. However, the most common and effective tool is music. In the film, music plays a vital role in developing emotions for the audience in relating with the miners and their families. Songs such as `Cold Blooded Murder', `Which Side Are You On', and `The die has been cast now, and a good man is gone' are self-explanatory through their titles in demonstrating the hardship and struggle the miners faced. The images and interviews seen throughout the film help in understanding the facts but these songs amplify a greater amount of sentiment in the audience's minds. Near the end of the documentary `They Can't Keep us Down,' by Hazel Dickens is played to resemble a prominently happy conclusion in the miner's fight. This connotation is contradicted however when a miner states that the fight will continue and hardship will still be faced by many of the older miners whom are nearing an insufficient retirement. The ending of the documentary substantiates that in all fights there is usually no conclusive winner, just influential music to force the audience to support one opponent over the other.
A unique and courageous documentary about unionism
eabakkum1 October 2010
Warning: Spoilers
Even for dedicated cadre members of a trade union this film is quite shocking. The film is a documentary about the coal miners of Harlan County in Kentucky. They organize a strike in order to extort the recognition of union contracts. They demand higher wages, since the mining company makes huge profits. In addition the safety at work is poor. The strikers get support from the UMW but of course maintain their own responsibility with respect to the formation of picket lines etcetera. The labor fight is particularly harsh for several reasons. First of all, the strike lasts for over a year, which is by all standards extremely long. And then there is the high level of violence. There are episodes, where both the picketers and the so-called scabs are armed with guns and sticks. Even the women of the miners carry sticks and bats. And two members of the trade union are actually murdered. First Yablonski, an official of the UMW, is murdered in Washington. If my understanding of the story is correct, apparently the ruthless director of the Boyle mining company had ordered his assassination. Later picketer Jones is shot dead in a fight with a scab. We don't see a comparable violence in the film Salt Of The Earth, which describes a similar strike, and was banned by the USA government. And although in the British miners campaign of the eighties the occasional police car was set on fire (the actions were directed against the government of Thatcher), the picketers never carried arms, not even sticks. Of course these may be cultural habits, but a good union takes her own responsibility to control the level of violence. There are other cultural differences: for instance, in the Netherlands the closed shop system has never become popular. Another point, which hampers the identification of the observer with the strikers, is their extreme poverty. In the Netherlands, until the fifties you could read the social position of people from the state of their teeth. This film is recorded a quarter of a century later, and the physical condition of these miners people is still miserable. This may be due to their incomplete health-insurance, and forces you to ponder over the conditions of a civilized society. This is certainly a responsibility of management in general, which fortunately in West-Europe during the past century has been strongly influenced by the Christian democrats and social-democracy. Anyway, eventually the strikers win and get their right to organize. Concerning the film, it contains unique footage. I like to hear the opinions of the common people, and their experiences with labor conditions in the past and present. Sometimes the scene selection is particularly shocking, for instance when during the burial of picketer Jones his mother seems to lose her senses and faints. Was this an act? It is an excellent idea to accompany the recordings by miners songs. For an economic conflict is just as much an emotional process as a pure business transaction, and emotions are best reflected in cultural and artistic manifestations. In fact, although the film is a documentary, it is by no means neutral in the selection of the shots and the scenes. Regrettably you will only get a faint impression of the demands of the union and their reasonableness. In a final vote on the agreement of 1974 the union members themselves are divided. And personally I would have appreciated English subtitles (for the hearing-impaired!). But overall Harlan County USA is a unique and courageous film, which yields a major contribution to the awakening of the people (if they are willing to look) and the search for a better society.
Great
Cosmoeticadotcom1 September 2010
Warning: Spoilers
The film melds history and drama with pathos and even humor; a scene where strikers go to New York City, and one of them gets schooled in how poorly they have it by a New York flatfoot, is priceless. Even Kopple, in the commentary, admits she was floored with laughter when she first saw the footage. The lives of the miners- then without hot running water, and living in shanties that would make a trailer look comfy- are deplorable, yet the Duke Power honchos only give in after one of their gun thugs kills a young miner, Lawrence Jones, and the strikers are ready to kill any scab that crosses their picket line. And, the film takes on not only the owners of Duke Power, but the corrupt sheriff and judge of the county, who are in the back pocket of the company. One of the young wives of the strikers, in court for a phony violation, correctly sums up American justice there and then (as well as too often elsewhere and elsewhen): 'The laws are not made for the working people of this country.'
But, while such uncomplicated realities are laid bare in this film, its greatness comes because the film refuses to simplify things to a lowest common denominator. The Brookside strikers' contract is soon made redundant by a national contract, and that contract is reviled by some miners and praised by others. The new leader of the UMWA, Arnold Miller- a real miner, not just a union hack, is shown as a possible sellout; while not as corrupt as his predecessor Boyle, he seems on his way down that path; or not.
Harlan County, USA, is not only a great documentary, but a great film. Period. It was well deserving of its Academy Award, as well as its 1990 inclusion in the National Film Registry of the Library of Congress. While art is clearly not truth, documentaries are the rare art form where truth is essential, because it is not merely cinema, but a journalistic art. The film also holds up for it is shorn or much of the faux poesy that inflicts bad documentaries. This is just 'point the camera' cinema, and the fact that it features poor people who are Americans- not foreigners, and mostly white- not minorities, is a rarity, and shows that this film not only can strike one emotionally (it raised my ire), but intellectually. And its end, recognizing that, although the miners won their strikes, their struggles go on (few miners could then afford to retire when most folk do), is pitch perfect. Unfortunately, that reality shows why the film is, in today's economic blight, is still all too relevant. Ironically, it only manifests the vision that Kopple had all those decades ago. Excelsior!
But, while such uncomplicated realities are laid bare in this film, its greatness comes because the film refuses to simplify things to a lowest common denominator. The Brookside strikers' contract is soon made redundant by a national contract, and that contract is reviled by some miners and praised by others. The new leader of the UMWA, Arnold Miller- a real miner, not just a union hack, is shown as a possible sellout; while not as corrupt as his predecessor Boyle, he seems on his way down that path; or not.
Harlan County, USA, is not only a great documentary, but a great film. Period. It was well deserving of its Academy Award, as well as its 1990 inclusion in the National Film Registry of the Library of Congress. While art is clearly not truth, documentaries are the rare art form where truth is essential, because it is not merely cinema, but a journalistic art. The film also holds up for it is shorn or much of the faux poesy that inflicts bad documentaries. This is just 'point the camera' cinema, and the fact that it features poor people who are Americans- not foreigners, and mostly white- not minorities, is a rarity, and shows that this film not only can strike one emotionally (it raised my ire), but intellectually. And its end, recognizing that, although the miners won their strikes, their struggles go on (few miners could then afford to retire when most folk do), is pitch perfect. Unfortunately, that reality shows why the film is, in today's economic blight, is still all too relevant. Ironically, it only manifests the vision that Kopple had all those decades ago. Excelsior!
One of the most moving films ever made...
WillieKilligan3 June 2004
Why is this documentary not out on DVD??? I can honestly say I've never seen a film that managed to get me so emotionally involved in its subject. I'm lucky that I have a local video store that carries a wide range of documentaries as I'm sure most people might have a tough time tracking this one down. The story is as suspenseful and intense as any fictional movie I've ever seen, but these are the kind of people Hollywood never portrays. I come from the laurel highlands of Western Pennsylvania where the mountains were once dotted with coal mines, and the grave of the Yablonski family is located in the cemetery where my grandparents are buried. I remembered the large grave when I was a child and my parents had told me they were murdered, but I never knew the whole story until I saw this film. This is a truly fantastic underdog story that will anger and move you. I wish there was a soundtrack to this movie too. The music is incredible! When the elderly woman (can't remember her name) sings "Which Side are You On?" (which she wrote years before for an earlier strike!) at the miners rally it is an immensely powerful performance and makes Natalie Merchant's recent version sound like an emotionless waste. Anyway, hunt this film down and watch it, show it to your friends and family, remember the good people of Harlan County and how the fought.
Extraordinary
gbill-7487715 August 2019
There aren't many graphics in this fantastic documentary, but I think the one that shows these statistics for 1975 is the most telling:
Coal company profits - up 170%
Miners wages - up 4%
Cost of living - up 7%
One of the key aspects driving profits is of course to keep costs down, and we see that, left unchecked, coal operators did that by exploiting workers in shameful, amoral ways. They erect communities of shanties with no water or indoor plumbing. They provide a very low minimum wage, and force workers to endure long hours inhaling coal dust without the benefit of any kind of mask. They resist all efforts to improve safety, with standards far below those of European countries, getting repeated extensions from Federal Bureau of mines to delay upgrades as long as possible (in one case in West Virginia, 16 times in 1968, prior to a mine explosion). Supervisors are known to dole out physical abuse on the job, and when workers sustain even major injuries, they are expected to be back on the job the following day. They don't provide health insurance and only allow for a meager pension after 40 years in the mines. As one worker describes it, the mules used are treated more carefully, because as a boss told him "We can always hire another man, but you gotta buy that mule."
This all leads to a strike in the 1970's by mine workers in poor Harlan County, Kentucky, and filmmaker Barbara Kopple was there for 13 months to capture it. The footage she gets is simply extraordinary. The level of access she got from embedding herself into the situation and bravely putting herself in harm's way, and the way she tells this story, is truly immersive. Early on she plunges us in to what it means to be in a coal mine, and while most of the rest is in meetings and on the picket line, it never lets up. The a cappella folk singing in the film is very powerful, and nowhere more so than when elderly Florence Reese sings the song she wrote 40+ years earlier during the bloody 1930's, "Which Side Are You On?" (later recorded by Peter Seeger and many others). The wives and women leaders of the strike are phenomenal, and are often more committed to being on the picket lines over the long haul of the strike, in one scene bravely chanting "We shall not be moved" after they've blocked access to the mines.
The things Duke Power did in response to labor attempting to organize included:
Collins doesn't delve into the history of the county, e.g. the bloody events of the 1930's that are often alluded to by those who lived it or heard about it from their families, but just look up "Harlan County War" if you care to. And of course there is still news in Harlan County to this day, e.g. in April 2019 Blackjewel went bankrupt and pulled direct deposit funds back from workers' accounts.
To those who would criticize the documentary for not "showing the other side," I would point out just how powerful and well-represented the coal and oil companies are in general, and even in this documentary, I don't see any of their positions distorted. We see their executives standing up and speaking regularly throughout, e.g. in front of their shareholders, articulating their positions on the strike, etc. It's not that they aren't shown, it's that their positions and actions are odious. One takes a page right out of the tobacco company playbook and claims that there is little link between inhaling coal dust on the job all day and getting black lung disease. Another one gives an incredibly condescending and sexist reply when asked about the role of miner's wives in strikes.
While watching, I couldn't help but wonder why in hell the owners don't just display a little humanity, but maybe the thing that stops them from doing that is exactly what got them to the top in the first place. Sheer unadulterated greed.
Favorite quote, from a worker talking to a cop in New York as he and others picket Wall Street and advocate the selling of Duke Power stock: "I mean, a lot of people don't understand that electricity burning over there, that somebody's dying every day for it. One man dies every day."
One of the key aspects driving profits is of course to keep costs down, and we see that, left unchecked, coal operators did that by exploiting workers in shameful, amoral ways. They erect communities of shanties with no water or indoor plumbing. They provide a very low minimum wage, and force workers to endure long hours inhaling coal dust without the benefit of any kind of mask. They resist all efforts to improve safety, with standards far below those of European countries, getting repeated extensions from Federal Bureau of mines to delay upgrades as long as possible (in one case in West Virginia, 16 times in 1968, prior to a mine explosion). Supervisors are known to dole out physical abuse on the job, and when workers sustain even major injuries, they are expected to be back on the job the following day. They don't provide health insurance and only allow for a meager pension after 40 years in the mines. As one worker describes it, the mules used are treated more carefully, because as a boss told him "We can always hire another man, but you gotta buy that mule."
This all leads to a strike in the 1970's by mine workers in poor Harlan County, Kentucky, and filmmaker Barbara Kopple was there for 13 months to capture it. The footage she gets is simply extraordinary. The level of access she got from embedding herself into the situation and bravely putting herself in harm's way, and the way she tells this story, is truly immersive. Early on she plunges us in to what it means to be in a coal mine, and while most of the rest is in meetings and on the picket line, it never lets up. The a cappella folk singing in the film is very powerful, and nowhere more so than when elderly Florence Reese sings the song she wrote 40+ years earlier during the bloody 1930's, "Which Side Are You On?" (later recorded by Peter Seeger and many others). The wives and women leaders of the strike are phenomenal, and are often more committed to being on the picket lines over the long haul of the strike, in one scene bravely chanting "We shall not be moved" after they've blocked access to the mines.
The things Duke Power did in response to labor attempting to organize included:
- Singling out leaders among the workers and abusing them on the job.
- Taking pictures of strikers in order to blacklist them.
- Bribing union bosses in order to get them on the owner's side.
- Sending goon squads around with guns to intimidate picketers by day, and shooting up their homes at night. Kopple captures some truly horrifying footage of "land foreman" Basil Collins and his thugs.
- Murdering Joseph Yablonski along with his wife and daughter in a mafia like hit, for daring to run in an election to replace corrupt union boss W.A. Boyle - for which Boyle would later be convicted.
- Utilizing the church, politicians, and police to cajole or intimidate strikers. As an elderly man describes his experience from the past, when he was a 10-year-old working 10 hour days and striking "I learned that the politicians worked with the coal companies. I found out that the union officials were working with the coal companies. I also found out that the Catholic hierarchy was working with the coal officials. Here was a combination of the whole thing, see, that you had to bump up against the whole combination of them."
- Corrupting the courts. After a 16-year-old wife and mother is left a widow when her husband, Lawrence Jones, is shot in the head by scab Bill Bruner, who was seen by witnesses, the killer is let off by a grand jury. In another courtroom, a frustrated woman says to the judge "The laws are not made for the working people in this country. ... The law was made for people like Carl Horn (President of Duke Power), not for us."
- Utilizing a propaganda campaign to diminish public support for strikers, getting them to believe they were communists, or going to "ruin America" by driving the cost of goods up (you know, instead of simply reducing profits for the company). Does that 'communist' rhetoric sound familiar? Just replace the word with 'socialist' in today's propaganda, and the sentiment is the same.
- Keeping other industries out of the area so that workers had nowhere else to go, thus monopolizing the labor market. This is stated by Houston Elmore, a UMW Organizer, and while especially insidious, I would have loved to see more that showed examples of how they did this.
- Assaulting the brave crew filming the documentary to bear witness.
- And of course, hiring scabs to replace them. Unions don't have a lot of power these days in America, but if this doesn't convince you to never cross a picket line as a worker or consumer, nothing will.
Collins doesn't delve into the history of the county, e.g. the bloody events of the 1930's that are often alluded to by those who lived it or heard about it from their families, but just look up "Harlan County War" if you care to. And of course there is still news in Harlan County to this day, e.g. in April 2019 Blackjewel went bankrupt and pulled direct deposit funds back from workers' accounts.
To those who would criticize the documentary for not "showing the other side," I would point out just how powerful and well-represented the coal and oil companies are in general, and even in this documentary, I don't see any of their positions distorted. We see their executives standing up and speaking regularly throughout, e.g. in front of their shareholders, articulating their positions on the strike, etc. It's not that they aren't shown, it's that their positions and actions are odious. One takes a page right out of the tobacco company playbook and claims that there is little link between inhaling coal dust on the job all day and getting black lung disease. Another one gives an incredibly condescending and sexist reply when asked about the role of miner's wives in strikes.
While watching, I couldn't help but wonder why in hell the owners don't just display a little humanity, but maybe the thing that stops them from doing that is exactly what got them to the top in the first place. Sheer unadulterated greed.
Favorite quote, from a worker talking to a cop in New York as he and others picket Wall Street and advocate the selling of Duke Power stock: "I mean, a lot of people don't understand that electricity burning over there, that somebody's dying every day for it. One man dies every day."
Interesting, informative but poor quality of images.
deloudelouvain21 September 2020
Warning: Spoilers
I watch a lot of documentaries, about various subjects, and in this case it was interesting to understand how unions worked at that time, but the quality of the images wasn't great (which makes sense because it's from 1976). If we have what we have now, a better pay, holidays, insurance and other things, it's because of what our ancesters fought for so we should never forget that. In Harlan County USA we get to see how hard life was back then, but you can also see similarities with how everything still works now, and that is as much profit possible for the rich and peanuts for the poor. It didn't change and it probably never will. The whole capitalist system benefits only a few in this world, the rest of us are just rats feeding the system. The documentary doesn't look much like our modern documentaries now, the images aren't that professional but it's watchable. It's interesting nonetheless, revolting for sure when you see how they treated people back then. I've given up on fitting in the system since a long time, I honestly prefer dying than losing my total freedom again. One thing has evolved since then though, people got better looking because in this documentary I only saw ugly people and it wasn't because of the mining dust.
An eye opening film
jeanneme10 November 2010
Looking at a 1976 film changes ones perspective about the world. Looking at the coal miner's plight in 1976 changes my perspective about their job. I never thought about a coal miner as a hero...I do today. They have suffered brutality, poor working conditions (mines used to be 42 in high), poor pay and frequent cave-ins. Estimated 1,000 men died annually from just entering or leaving a mine! I am impressed that this film made it to the world with the mine owners brute force mentality; I was surprised that they didn't go after the videographer. This is a great film, well filmed and the content is an education. I understand it got an Oscar...I hope I understood that right because it deserved it! Anyone in the mining business definitely SHOULD watch this film. Anyone under 50 SHOULD watch this film. Everyone alive SHOULD watch this film to understand where we came from, what it WAS like and how safety conditions have advanced and what else can be done in FUTURE. TWO THUMBS UP !!!
Not really a documentary
truebatmantd2 June 2023
I don't see how this video (NOT a documentary) won Oscar back in the day when it's not even a documentary. If this is a documentary, then half the videos you see on YouTube are also documentaries as well as news report you see every evening.
This is 2 hour of a compilation video where they interview a bunch of people who can't even talk proper English and constantly mumbling. They interview one person after another, all repeating the same things. There is no narrative, no storytelling, not even an effort to inform the audience about what's going on. Just interview after interview where one person after another mumbles the same things over and over.
After about 20 minutes the video makes its point so you expect them to move forward and tell a story but it never happens. The video keeps making the same points again and again and again and again for the next 2 hours and then suddenly ends without a conclusion.
This is NOT even a documentary let alone the "best documentary". You people are clueless.
This is 2 hour of a compilation video where they interview a bunch of people who can't even talk proper English and constantly mumbling. They interview one person after another, all repeating the same things. There is no narrative, no storytelling, not even an effort to inform the audience about what's going on. Just interview after interview where one person after another mumbles the same things over and over.
After about 20 minutes the video makes its point so you expect them to move forward and tell a story but it never happens. The video keeps making the same points again and again and again and again for the next 2 hours and then suddenly ends without a conclusion.
This is NOT even a documentary let alone the "best documentary". You people are clueless.
A gripping reality that still exists in America.
emma5027 May 2003
Dirt roads, no plumbing, wages lower than the standard living condition rates, abused mentally and physically by a large monopolistic corporation, and a lack of a full education are all factors that led to the strike of the minors in Harlan County. A county that time as well as the nation forgot. A county that did not progressed on beyond the persecution and disgraceful treatment of the 1930's proletariat. A county where the average man lived in constant fear that there would not be a constant and or adequate income; where the only way to see change was to unite and to revolt by any means to force people to see the intolerable conditions that they live in.
This documentary was filmed over a period of 4 years which in turn showed the lack of speed for a change from a peon work ethic to one of equality. The men of the mine saw the results that a union in other parts of the country and the standard of living that most Americans enjoyed as compared to their own situation. The community of Harlan County had a desire for change from an almost forced labor to one where the worker could make choices, have health care and to not live from pay check to pay check. The men and the woman were willing to risk everything for a better future for their children. The wives of the minors not only lived in the same conditions but had the same drive for changes and a difference. The women not only increased the numbers for picket lines but they also brought the importance of the strike to an `at home' feel. The rough terrain, harsh living community, and dirty, dingy way of life that a miner and a miner's family lived in was adequately represented in the film via the raw nature of the interviews and the in the field live spontaneous coverage. You as the viewer did not sit back and watch the film but instead were brought in to the lives of these men and woman. The filming brought a sense to the audience that you were there on the picket line, you felt the terror of being attacked, and you experienced the chaos when shots were fired at unarmed citizens. The falling of the camera and the blackness of the shot exemplifies the nature of not understanding what was going on at that moment. This in your face type of filming also show all aspects of what a strike of this nature entails. The viewer saw the aftermath and hospitalization of the battles between unarmed men and the `gun -thugs' sent to end picket lines. Like Bordwall and Thompson state the film crew used was small and more mobile, this not only rejected the traditional ideals of script and structure but also allowed the film makers to almost disappear into the back ground and let the action unfold in font of their eyes. This form of filming were there is a no holds bar or in your face tactic shows all portions of the incident, meaning that there is a feeling that the camera was never turned off. It brought light to a subject that most would not have known about, a subject that it profoundly influenced. The press that such documentaries bring to these hidden incidents carries a strong level of change and importance that otherwise would not be there. The filming of these events is intense. The film must express the telling of a complete story, one that ties the events that previously unfolded through the elapsed filming time to a coherent ending, being it either good or bad. The documentary film is a modern day form of passing on a lesson or an experience to a new audience, the modern day word of mouth story telling.
This documentary was filmed over a period of 4 years which in turn showed the lack of speed for a change from a peon work ethic to one of equality. The men of the mine saw the results that a union in other parts of the country and the standard of living that most Americans enjoyed as compared to their own situation. The community of Harlan County had a desire for change from an almost forced labor to one where the worker could make choices, have health care and to not live from pay check to pay check. The men and the woman were willing to risk everything for a better future for their children. The wives of the minors not only lived in the same conditions but had the same drive for changes and a difference. The women not only increased the numbers for picket lines but they also brought the importance of the strike to an `at home' feel. The rough terrain, harsh living community, and dirty, dingy way of life that a miner and a miner's family lived in was adequately represented in the film via the raw nature of the interviews and the in the field live spontaneous coverage. You as the viewer did not sit back and watch the film but instead were brought in to the lives of these men and woman. The filming brought a sense to the audience that you were there on the picket line, you felt the terror of being attacked, and you experienced the chaos when shots were fired at unarmed citizens. The falling of the camera and the blackness of the shot exemplifies the nature of not understanding what was going on at that moment. This in your face type of filming also show all aspects of what a strike of this nature entails. The viewer saw the aftermath and hospitalization of the battles between unarmed men and the `gun -thugs' sent to end picket lines. Like Bordwall and Thompson state the film crew used was small and more mobile, this not only rejected the traditional ideals of script and structure but also allowed the film makers to almost disappear into the back ground and let the action unfold in font of their eyes. This form of filming were there is a no holds bar or in your face tactic shows all portions of the incident, meaning that there is a feeling that the camera was never turned off. It brought light to a subject that most would not have known about, a subject that it profoundly influenced. The press that such documentaries bring to these hidden incidents carries a strong level of change and importance that otherwise would not be there. The filming of these events is intense. The film must express the telling of a complete story, one that ties the events that previously unfolded through the elapsed filming time to a coherent ending, being it either good or bad. The documentary film is a modern day form of passing on a lesson or an experience to a new audience, the modern day word of mouth story telling.
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