North Country (2005)

Popularity:

Up 26% in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.

Director:

Niki Caro

Writers (WGA):

Michael Seitzman (screenplay)
Clara Bingham (book) ...
(more)

Release Date:

9 February 2006 (Germany)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

All She Wanted Was To Make A Living. Instead She Made History.

Plot:

A fictionalized account of the first major successful sexual harassment case in the United States -- Jenson vs. Eveleth Mines, where a woman who endured a range of abuse while working as a miner filed and won the landmark 1984 lawsuit.

Plot Keywords:

Mine | Miner | Minnesota | Lawsuit | Sexual Harassment

Awards:

Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 6 wins & 17 nominations

Cast

Charlize Theron	...	Josey Aimes
Thomas Curtis	...	Sammy Aimes
Elle Peterson	...	Karen Aimes
Frances McDormand	...	Glory
Sean Bean	...	Kyle
Woody Harrelson	...	Bill White
Jeremy Renner	...	Bobby Sharp
Richard Jenkins	...	Hank Aimes
Sissy Spacek	...	Alice Aimes
James Cada	...	Don Pearson
Rusty Schwimmer	...	Big Betty
Linda Emond	...	Leslie Conlin
Michelle Monaghan	...	Sherry
Brad William Henke	...	Lattavansky
Jillian Armenante	...	Peg
Amber Heard	...	Young Josey
John Aylward	...	Judge Halsted
Xander Berkeley	...	Arlen Pavich
Corey Stoll	...	Ricky Sennett
Cole Williams	...	Young Bobby
Bryan Fagerstrom	...	Mac
Chris Mulkey	...	Earl Slangley
Arron Shiver	...	Young Male Doctor (as Aaron Shiver)
Clif Stokes	...	Good Guy
J.D. Garfield	...	Porta Guy #1 (as JD Garfield)
Boots Southerland	...	Guy #2
John Hardman	...	Guy #3
Forrest Norgaard	...	Mac's Buddy
Sage Coy	...	Stacey
Marcus Chait	...	Wayne
Dennis E. Garber	...	Real Estate Agent
Alex Layton	...	Number 3
Jacqueline Wright	...	Bobby's Wife
Catherine Campion	...	Stacey's Mom
Tom Bower	...	Gray Suchett
David Lislegard	...	Union Member #1
Kurt Peterson	...	Union Member #2
Pete Pellinen	...	Union Member #3
Bruce Bohne	...	Union Member #4
Todd Anderson	...	Semen Man
Kit Gwin	...	Larynx Nurse
Patrick McDowell	...	Priest (as Monsignor Patrick McDowell)
Raye Birk	...	Tom Motel Clerk
Sally Wingert	...	Kay Stollman
Katherine Ferrand	...	Sally Bullavina
Curtis Plagge	...	Burly Miner
Marc Miles	...	Digger Driver
J.C. Cutler	...	Union Rep #1
Gus Lynch	...	Pete Union Rep
Mark Sivertsen	...	Bailiff #1
Rand Kennedy	...	Bailiff #2
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Sawyer Clark	...	Boy in hockey rink parking lot
Ricardo Andres	...	Miner, Hockey Game Spectator (uncredited)
Wendi Andres	...	Hockey Game Spectator (uncredited)
Michael Cook	...	Hockey Fan (uncredited)
Harp Corrigan	...	TJ's Bar Patron / Miner / Juror (uncredited)
Charles Dowdy III	...	Juror (uncredited)
Kyle Falls	...	Hockey Game Guest, Bar Patron, Plant Worker (uncredited)
Angela Kosteliz	...	Mine Worker (uncredited)
Brent Lambert	...	Bar Patron (uncredited)
Jonathan Lane	...	Bar Patron (uncredited)
Kayla Laursen	...	Hockey Game Spectator (uncredited)
Debbie Letteau	...	Hockey Game Guest (uncredited)
Gerard Maloney	...	Juror (uncredited)
Mike Miller	...	Mine Official (uncredited)
Robert Ozasky	...	Miner (uncredited)
Christine Rapsys	...	Hockey Fan (uncredited)
Chloe Russell	...	Upset Woman in Clinic (uncredited)
Ron Smith	...	Steel Workers Union Member (uncredited)

Directed by
Niki Caro

Writing credits (WGA)
Michael Seitzman		(screenplay)
Clara Bingham		(book "Class Action: The Story of Lois Jensen and the Landmark Case That Changed Sexual Harassment Law") and
Laura Leedy		(book "Class Action: The Story of Lois Jensen and the Landmark Case That Changed Sexual Harassment Law") (as Laura Leedy Gansler)

Produced by
Helen Buck Bartlett	....	executive producer (as Helen Bartlett)
Doug Claybourne	....	executive producer
Nana Greenwald	....	executive producer
Chris Salvaterra	....	production executive
Jeff Skoll	....	executive producer
Valerie Flueger Veras	....	associate producer (as Valerie Flueger)
Nick Wechsler	....	producer

Original Music by
Gustavo Santaolalla

Cinematography by
Chris Menges

Film Editing by
David Coulson

Casting by
Mali Finn

Production Design by
Richard Hoover

Art Direction by
Gregory S. Hooper

Set Decoration by
Peter Tosti Stephenson
Ray Attridge		(uncredited)

Costume Design by
Cindy Evans

Makeup Department
Tammy Ashmore	....	makeup artist
RaMona Fleetwood	....	hair stylist
Toni G	....	makeup artist: Ms. Theron
Jill Guido	....	assistant hair stylist
Sally J. Harper	....	hair stylist: Ms. Spacek
Sally J. Harper	....	makeup artist: Ms. Spacek
Denise Kum	....	head makeup artist
Adruitha Lee	....	hair stylist: Ms. Theron
Lori McCoy-Bell	....	head hair stylist
Greg T. Moon	....	makeup artist (as Greg Moon)
Reyna Robinson	....	hair stylist
Cara Sophia Tollefson	....	hair stylist (as Cara Tollefson)
Brenda Torre	....	make-up and hair
Teri Ann Uccan	....	assistant hair stylist
Linda Vallejo	....	assistant makeup artist
Danielle Friedman	....	assistant makeup artist (uncredited)
Natalie A. Hale	....	additional makeup artist: Minnesota (uncredited)
Vanessa Jaramillo	....	makeup artist (uncredited)
Karen McDonald	....	additional makeup artist (uncredited)
Justin Stafford	....	wig maker (uncredited)

Production Management
Ravi D. Mehta	....	executive in charge of production
Nicolas Stern	....	production supervisor
Elizabeth Miller Gavcus	....	post-production executive (uncredited)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Timothy Grant Engle	....	second second assistant director
Dave Halls	....	additional second assistant director
Dave Halls	....	first assistant director: second unit
Chemen Ochoa	....	second assistant director (as Chemen A. Ochoa)
Liz Tan	....	first assistant director

Art Department
Curtis Bellows	....	paint foreman
John C. Cameron	....	assistant property master
David M. Cole	....	buyer
Jason Critchfield	....	painter
Chadney Everett	....	painter
John Frick	....	set designer
William F. Gambill	....	paint gang boss
William F. Gambill	....	scenic gangboss
Joel Goodell	....	set dresser
Kelly Hemenway	....	lead scenic artist
Lynn A. Johanson	....	paint gang boss
Arlen Johnson	....	general foreman
Caylen Johnson	....	welder
Kristen Kogler	....	art department assistant
Scott Nordhausen	....	on-set dresser
Gabrielle Petrissans	....	set designer
Jeff Schoen	....	set designer
Liv Selinger	....	art department coordinator
Gary Surber	....	leadman
Alan Swain	....	set dresser
Keith Walters	....	property master
Christopher Windisch	....	construction coordinator
Jeri Woodward	....	paint foreman
Randal Woodward	....	lead scenic
Dan Fitzgerald	....	storyboard artist (uncredited)
Chris Thickins	....	set dresser (uncredited)

Sound Department
Petra Bach	....	adr editor
Jamie Baker	....	foley editor
Kevin E. Carpenter	....	sound re-recording mixer
Kam Chan	....	foley editor
Marko A. Costanzo	....	foley artist
Chris Fielder	....	assistant sound editor
Eugene Gearty	....	sound effects designer
Cole Gittinger	....	boom operator
Rodney Gurule	....	audio playback engineer
Steve Humphrey	....	sound
Frank Kern	....	supervising foley editor
Branka Mrkic	....	dialogue editor (as Branka Mrkic-Tana)
Igor Nikolic	....	assistant sound editor
Steve Pederson	....	sound re-recording mixer (as Steve M. Pederson)
William Sarokin	....	sound mixer
Sara Stern	....	apprentice sound editor
Philip Stockton	....	supervising sound editor
Steven Visscher	....	foley editor (as Steve Visscher)
Hugh Waddell	....	adr supervisor
Allan Zaleski	....	sound effects editor

Special Effects by
David C. Avery	....	special effects technician
Nicole Hansen	....	special effects technician (as Nicole Hansen-Solum)
Steven Hintz	....	special effects foreman: Minnesota
Joel Hobbie	....	special effects technician
Geoffrey C. Martin	....	special effects coordinator
James Murphy	....	special effects technician: Minnesota
Paul Murphy	....	special effects technician: Minnesota
Sam Murphy	....	special effects technician: Minnesota
Brett A. Myrick	....	special effects technician
Gary Petersen	....	special effects technician (as Gary Mongo Petersen)
Jason P. Schumacher	....	special effects technician: Minnesota
Kurt R. Schumacher	....	special effects technician: Minnesota
Craig R. Uszak	....	special effects technician

Visual Effects by
David Wallace Allen	....	visual effects supervisor: TeamWorks Digital
Cheryl Bainum	....	executive producer: HATCH
Dominic Daigle	....	digital artist: HATCH
Eric Durst	....	visual effects supervisor
Mark Edwards	....	visual effects coordinator: Hatch
Deak Ferrand	....	senior matte painter/designer: HATCH
Greg Nelson	....	digital compositor
Wilson Tang	....	digital restoration
Andrew C. Whitelaw	....	digital artist: HATCH
Chris B. Schnitzer	....	visual effects production supervisor: Warner Bros. (uncredited)

Stunts
Scott Cosgrove	....	stunts
Lena Fennema	....	stunts
Alisa Hensley	....	stunts (as Alisa Hensley-Lane)
Eric D. Howell	....	stunt coordinator: Minnesota
Shawn Robinson	....	stunts
Tim Trella	....	stunt coordinator: New Mexico
Danny Wynands	....	stunts (as Dan Wynands)

Camera and Electrical Department
James W. Apted	....	first assistant camera: "b" camera
Dana Baker	....	best boy grip
Liza Bambenek	....	second assistant camera: "b" camera
Jeff Becke	....	grip
Massimo Bordonaro	....	ad/pub services
Theodore Y. Bott	....	electrician
David Cummings	....	dolly grip: "b" camera
Richard Foreman Jr.	....	still photographer
David Galbraith	....	first assistant camera: "a" camera
Joseph Gallup	....	grip
George Greene	....	electrician
Rodney Gurule	....	rigging electrician
Hank Herrera	....	key rigging grip
Travis Hottinger	....	grip
Trevor Howe	....	grip
Christopher Hultgren	....	electrician
Scott D. Jolstad	....	b cam dolly grip
Kevin Karpinski	....	electrician
Al LaVerde	....	key grip
Michael Lindquist	....	second assistant camera: "b" camera
Jon Lindsay	....	film loader
Steven Litecky	....	gaffer
Duane Manwiller	....	Steadicam operator
Duane Manwiller	....	camera operator: "a" camera
Paul Marbury	....	assistant camera
Mike Moad	....	dolly grip
Wiley Schott	....	camera production assistant
Dyanna Taylor	....	director of photography: second unit
Wilson Webb	....	electrician
Dean Woytcke	....	rigging grip
Nikki LeBlanc	....	rigging electrician (uncredited)

Casting Department
Jo Edna Boldin	....	casting director: New Mexico
Deanna Brigidi	....	casting assistant
Kathryn Brink	....	extras casting
Wade Cordts	....	extras casting assistant
Daniella Friedman	....	casting intern
Elizabeth Gabel	....	extras casting assistant
Marie A. Kohl	....	casting assistant: New Mexico
Lorrie Latham	....	extras casting assistant
David Rapaport	....	casting associate

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Aleah Ames	....	set costumer
Maria Bentfield	....	costumer
Sabrina Calley	....	costumer: Charlize Theron
Janet Ingram	....	key costumer (as Janet Stirner Ingram)
David Livingston	....	costume production assistant
Lisa Lovaas	....	costume supervisor
Daniela Moore	....	costume supervisor
Lisa Parmet	....	key costumer
Jason Rainey	....	ager/dyer
Andrew Rempel	....	costumer
Claire Sandrin	....	set costumer
Lee Sollenberger	....	set costumer
Tony Velasco	....	set costumer
Melissa Moody	....	tailor (uncredited)

Editorial Department
Tony D'Amore	....	digital intermediate colorist
Carol A. Ellison Fleming	....	assistant editor
Paul Ensby	....	digital colourist
Daniel J. Geiger	....	assistant editor
Kathleen Latlip	....	assistant editor
Stephen Nakamura	....	digital film colorist
Christian Prejza	....	digital intermediate producer
Benj Thall	....	trailer editor
Todd Zongker	....	first assistant editor: avid

Music Department
David Campbell	....	conductor
David Campbell	....	orchestrator: strings
Jay Duerr	....	music editor
Rodney Gurule	....	music playback mixer
Anibal Kerpel	....	music programmer
Bobby Mackston	....	music editor
Karyn Rachtman	....	music supervisor
Bettie Ross	....	supervising music copyist
Allen Sides	....	music mixer: strings
William J. Sullivan	....	soundtrack assistant engineer

Transportation Department
Curtis Wade Anderson	....	driver: cast
Brian Denny	....	vehicle wrangler
Michael Forte	....	driver
Bruce Hauer	....	transportation coordinator
Steve Humphrey	....	picture car coordinator
Steve Humphrey	....	transportation captain
Michael Luckeroth	....	driver: mechanic
James William Ray	....	driver
Marc Scott	....	driver
Leo Skudlarek	....	driver: props
Lucas Stein	....	driver
Joseph von Stern	....	driver: director (uncredited) (Joseph Stern)

Other crew
Rachel Aberly	....	unit publicist
Greg Anderson	....	technical advisor: embalming
Keith Baca	....	day office production assistant
Kris Barberg	....	production assistant
Billy Bonifield	....	assistant production coordinator
Judith M. Brown	....	studio teacher
Jerome Butler	....	dialect coach: Mr. Bean
Wade Cordts	....	extras coordinator
Rob Corlew	....	production secretary
Carrie Cossalter	....	assistant: Ms. Spacek
Michael Dellheim	....	location manager
Nicole Erdmann	....	production coordinator: Minnesota
Brooke Fair	....	production assistant
Sonia Farrell	....	assistant: Mr. Harrelson
Cassandra Flueger	....	assistant: Mr. Bean
Ken Garcia	....	medic
Kurt W. Gensmer	....	set medic: Minnesota
Claire Gerety-Mott	....	assistant: Ms. Caro
Cynthia Graves	....	stand-in
Mark Har	....	assistant location manager
Anne Healy	....	location manager
Erik Hodge	....	assistant: Mr. Wechsler
David Hughes	....	production assistant intern
Jai James	....	key set production assistant
Judith Jennings	....	studio teacher
Anne Johns	....	production coordinator
Linden Johnson	....	first assistant accountant
Marty Jurek	....	production assistant
Harriet Katz-Stevens	....	location accountant: Silver City
Julie Kaupa	....	production assistant
Gideon Keith	....	title designer
Joanna Kennedy	....	script supervisor
Beth Kono	....	assistant: Ms. Theron
Tiffany Kyees	....	body double
Tiffany Kyees	....	stand-in
Kristina Lankford	....	dialect coach
Daryl C. Lefever	....	production accountant
Tom Lent	....	adr voice
Sandy Lizaola-Hernandez	....	physical production coordinator
Jennifer Mancuso	....	office production assistant
Dan Mercer	....	title designer
Carlos A. Montoya	....	set staff assistant
Robbie Mueller	....	location scout
Peter L. Mullin	....	hockey consultant
Dan Neff	....	production assistant
Kevin Obsatz	....	production assistant
Sara M. Pennington	....	production assistant (as Sara M. Lewis)
Patricia Perkins	....	key craft service
Marcus Ringrose	....	title designer
Chance Romero	....	production assistant
Bettie Ross	....	supervising copyist
Wiley Schott	....	set staff assistant
Joanie Selden	....	payroll accountant
Rowan Stanland	....	assistant location manager
Faith Strongheart	....	set production assistant
Karen Svobodny	....	assistant: Ms. Bartlett and Ms. Greenwood
Joel Thingvall	....	location scout
Nadia Venesse	....	dialect coach
Andrea Vestrand	....	stand-in
John N. Ward	....	second assistant accountant
Danlee Winegar	....	assistant: Ms. Caro
Marcia Woske	....	production assistant
Dave Dustin	....	construction medic (uncredited)
Peter Vaughn Jervis	....	assistant to producer (uncredited)
G.Q. Sanchez	....	fire safety officer (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Warner Bros.
• Industry Entertainment
• Participant Media (as Participant Productions)
• Nick Wechsler Productions

Distributors

• Warner Bros. (2005) (USA) (theatrical)
• Fox-Warner (2006) (Switzerland) (theatrical)
• Warner Bros. Entertainment (2005) (Canada) (theatrical)
• Warner Bros. Entertainment (2006) (Spain) (theatrical)
• Warner Bros. F.E. (2006) (Philippines) (theatrical)
• Warner Bros. (2006) (Argentina) (theatrical)
• Warner Bros. (2006) (Belgium) (theatrical)
• Warner Bros. (2006) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• Warner Bros. (2006) (Singapore) (theatrical)
• Warner Home Video (2006) (Switzerland) (theatrical)
• Argentina Video Home (2006) (Argentina) (DVD)
• Argentina Video Home (2006) (Argentina) (VHS)
• Net5 (2009) (Netherlands) (TV)
• Warner Bros. Entertainment Finland Oy (2006) (Finland) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (2006) (Germany) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (2006) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (2006) (USA) (DVD)

Special Effects

• Teamworks Digital (visual effects)
• Hatch Production (matte paintings)

Other Companies

• C5  post-production sound services
• Chapman/Leonard Studio Equipment  cranes and dollies
• Columbia Records  soundtrack released by
• Mario's Catering  catering
• No Stone Unturned Security & Investigative Services  set security (as Angel Security)
• Rescue Resources  set medics
• Sony Music Soundtrax  soundtrack released by

Also Known As:

MPAA:

Rated R for sequences involving sexual harassment including violence and dialogue, and for language

Runtime:

126 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Argentina:16 | Australia:MA15+ | Brazil:16 | Canada:14A (Ontario) | Chile:TE | Finland:K-15 | France:U | Germany:12 | Hong Kong:IIB | Iceland:12 | Ireland:16 | Japan:R-15 | Malaysia:18PL | Malaysia:U (cut) | Netherlands:12 | Peru:14 | Singapore:NC-16 | South Korea:15 | Sweden:7 | Switzerland:12 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:12 (canton of Vaud) | UK:15 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Chisholm, Minnesota, USA

Company:

Warner Bros.

Trivia:

According to the book Class Action, the rape that produced Lois Jenson's son occurred after high school. In real life, Jenson put her daughter up for adoption as a toddler because she was overwhelmed trying to raise two children on her own, in low paying jobs. Her father supported her decision to work in the mine because he thought it would help her provide for her son.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: After Josey moves out of the house, she checks into a motel. A Hypercom T7P integrated credit card terminal is on the counter behind the front desk. That terminal first appeared in the early 1990s.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Josey Aimes:[testifying] Lady, you sit in your nice house, clean floors, your bottled water, your flowers on Valentine's Day, and you think you're tough? Wear my shoes. Tell me tough. Work a day in the pit, tell me tough.
Lawyer:I'm sure we're all sufficiently impressed, Mrs. Aimes.
Josey Aimes:There's no "Mrs." here.

Movie Connections:

Featured in 12th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards (2006) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Noodles

Despite being a little preachy and over the top, North Country is still an effective drama

Charlize Theron is Josey Aimes, a single mother of two children who moves back home to Minnesota after her boyfriend gets abusive, and has to start working at the mine to earn a living. When she's put through all sorts of indignities from the mine's male workers, she gets a lawyer (Woody Harrelson) to help her file a class action suit against the mining company for sexual harassment.

After watching the trailer for North Country, I thought the film was going to be a very bad feminist movie but it's a lot more than that. Sure, the film may display most guys in the film as sexist pigs but it wasn't too overdone. Niki Caro captures all the relationships and all the situations so well. The relationship between Josey and her two kids was very well done and very moving. Her sacrifice for them was great and the film captured that so well. The relationship between Josey and her father was also pretty good and kind of hard to watch because he didn't help his daughter at first. The relationship between Josey and Bill (Harrelson) wasn't very good. They tried to push the romance at the beginning of the film but then completely dropped it. It seemed like a big waste of time and a lot of work for nothing. Caro did a fine job at capturing all the problems the women were having. Some were hard to watch because the situations were kind of disgusting but they were pretty realistic.

The acting, for the most part, is pretty good and strong. The best being Charlize Theron. She gives a very heartwarming and effective performance. Frances McDormand also gives a good performance though she didn't really deserve an Oscar nomination. Her performance wasn't bad, just kind of ordinary. Woody Harrelson gives an okay performance. He's not very convincing when he's in the courtroom but he's pretty good outside the courtroom. Sissy Spacek was in the film for about a total of 25 minutes. The trailer makes it seem like she's an important character but she was underused. Sean Bean gives an okay performance but he was a little weak during the serious scenes. Richard Jenkins plays Josey's father and he gives a strong performance as well. The only performances I didn't like were from some of the co workers at the mine. Most of them were pretty weak and most were pretty unconvincing.

The film is of course not perfect. It's a little over the top and preachy. They didn't beat their message into the viewers head but sometimes they did shove it down our throats a little too much. The only bad thing Caro did were the court room scenes. I thought the film was pretty realistic except for all the times they were in the courtroom. It was so cheesy and over the top. It didn't kill the movie but a more mature approach to them would have been better. The ending was also a little weak. It was too cheesy and it felt rushed. The film is over two hours long but apparently not long enough because not everything wraps up nicely. In the end, Norma Rae is better and so is Erin Brockovich but North Country is still a powerful drama that should appeal too most people. Rating 7/10