The years have taken a toll on this powerfully somber story of West Virginia coal miners (circa 1920) fighting mine owners and a rigged system. The film looks ‘curated’ rather than lived in (so too Haskell Wexler’s acclaimed, smoke-cured lensing), with writer/director John Sayles mistakenly trying to rise above the naturally melodramatic situations: overheard conversations; parallel edited nick-of-time rescues; even a Sam Peckinpah shoot-out finale. Since the Labor/Capital issues are so clear-cut, Sayles focuses his first half on the violent rivalries between the three mining communities (locals; immigrant ‘Eye-talians’ from the North; more experienced Black miners up from the South), prodded rather easily past their prejudices by Union Organizer Chris Cooper who makes them see common cause and a common enemy in the Owners & Operators. Lots of good acting in here, especially the men (Cooper & local lawman David Strathairn both exceptional), but oddly little payoff even out of Sayles’ better scenes; like a church sermon parable used as a coded warning. It barely registers. Or attempts at comic relief/character building as when the women in the tent camp argue the merits of corn bread vs. polenta. (No one in W.Va. heard of Corn Meal Mush?) It‘s still affecting on some level. But somewhere along the rail lines, the rhythm of life goes missing.
DOUBLE-BILL: To find that rhythm of life in similar circumstances, Mario Monicelli’s masterly THE ORGANIZER/’63, especially for period detail/atmosphere/manners, and the astonishing complexity of Marcello Mastroianni’s union provocateur. (see below)
No comments:
Post a Comment