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Silkwood (1983)
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Overview
User Rating:
Director:
Writers:
Release Date:
14 December 1983 (USA)
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Tagline:
On November 13, 1974, Karen Silkwood, an employee of a nuclear facility, left to meet with a reporter from the New York Times. She never got there.
Plot:
The story of Karen Silkwood, a metallurgy worker at a plutonium processing plant who was purposefully contaminated, psychologically tortured and possibly murdered to prevent her from exposing blatant worker safety violations at the plant. full summary | add synopsis
Plot Keywords:
Awards:
Nominated for 5 Oscars.
Another 2 wins
&
7 nominations
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NewsDesk:
(19 articles)
Their Best Role: Meryl Streep
(From Cinematical. 18 November 2009, 9:02 AM, PST)
Before There Were Websites... (Pt 1)
(From FilmExperience. 8 September 2009, 12:30 PM, PDT)
(From Cinematical. 18 November 2009, 9:02 AM, PST)
Before There Were Websites... (Pt 1)
(From FilmExperience. 8 September 2009, 12:30 PM, PDT)
User Comments:
America the beautiful
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Cast
(Cast overview, first billed only) | Meryl Streep | ... | Karen Silkwood |
 | Kurt Russell | ... | Drew Stephens |
 | Cher | ... | Dolly Pelliker |
 | Craig T. Nelson | ... | Winston |
 | Fred Ward | ... | Morgan |
 | Diana Scarwid | ... | Angela |
 | Ron Silver | ... | Paul Stone |
 | Charles Hallahan | ... | Earl Lapin |
| Josef Sommer | ... | Max Richter |
| Sudie Bond | ... | Thelma Rice |
| Henderson Forsythe | ... | Quincy Bissell |
 | E. Katherine Kerr | ... | Gilda Schultz |
 | Bruce McGill | ... | Mace Hurley |
 | David Strathairn | ... | Wesley |
| J.C. Quinn | ... | Curtis Schultz |
Additional Details
Parents Guide:
Runtime:
131 min
Country:
Language:
Color:
Color (Technicolor)
Aspect Ratio:
1.85 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Certification:
Australia:M |
Iceland:16 |
Singapore:NC-16 |
Argentina:18 |
Chile:18 |
Finland:K-12 |
Sweden:11 |
UK:15 |
USA:R |
West Germany:16
Filming Locations:
Company:
Fun Stuff
Trivia:
The scene where Silkwood set off the radiation alarms actually happened. Her level of contamination was forty times the safe limit.
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Goofs:
Continuity: When men looking for radiation search the house, Karen and Dolly are questioned and Dolly is taken away. Soon afterward, in a close shot of Karen, Dolly is in the background.
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Quotes:
Karen Silkwood:
I remember in high school her saying, 'Now what'd you want to take that science class for? There's no girls in that science class. You take home ec, why don't you? That's the way to meet the nice boys.' 'Mom,' I said, There ain't no boys in home ec. The boys are in the science class.' She hated when I said, 'Ain't.'
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Movie Connections:
Referenced in "30 Rock: Retreat to Move Forward (#3.9)" (2009)
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Soundtrack:
Pretty Little Horses Lullaby
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FAQ
This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.more (54 total)
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| The Plutonium Incident | The China Syndrome | Serpico | Syriana | Saboteur |
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The lives of working class Americans are shamefully under-represented by Hollywood, and when a poor person is depicted (as something other than a criminal), it's almost always with the subtext of hope and the American dream. But hope isn't what drives someone, like the real-life Karen Silkwood, to risk her life working with plutonium for the only employer in a company town. Silkwood didn't find hope, but she did get scared, and angry, and put her job (and those of her colleagues) at stake to uncover dangerous practices before dying a mysterious death. 'Silkwood' the movie doesn't give us the glib conclusions of a conspiracy thriller (it refrains from giving an opinion on her cause of death), but it does give an excellent portrait of life at the bottom, and the mounting sense of claustrophobia and paranoia that accompanied Karen's perilous voyage of discovery. Meryl Streep does an excellent job in the title role, portraying a woman gradually losing her sanity, and the whole cast is good, even Cher in an unglamorous role. In conclusion, this is a serious and important film; and a reminder for the fortunate how hard, and ugly, life can be, even in the "land of the free".