Stranger Than Paradise
5th December 2010, 12:04
Very straightforward depiction of the bitter labour dispute in Matewan, West Virginia in the early 1920's culminating in the battle of Matewan.
For a leftist it's hard not to look past the impassioned speeches of the character Joe Kinehan who tries to unite the Matewan coal miners under the banner of "one big union". He breaks the racial boundaries in the village and both black and Italian's who were previously excluded by the union miners join the struggle. Even mentions that Kinehan was a "wobbly" will be interesting to leftists on this forum.
I have read a lot about the cinematography of this film but I think it's more powerful for its acting and it's social realism which although slightly caricature at times are undoubtedly the films strongest point. Overall it's a sad sad film which ends the right way as the struggle continues without victory.
8/10, Sayles bases his film around a small nucleus of maybe three or four characters, It could've been stronger but nonetheless he carried it out in the right way in my opinion.
For a leftist it's hard not to look past the impassioned speeches of the character Joe Kinehan who tries to unite the Matewan coal miners under the banner of "one big union". He breaks the racial boundaries in the village and both black and Italian's who were previously excluded by the union miners join the struggle. Even mentions that Kinehan was a "wobbly" will be interesting to leftists on this forum.
I have read a lot about the cinematography of this film but I think it's more powerful for its acting and it's social realism which although slightly caricature at times are undoubtedly the films strongest point. Overall it's a sad sad film which ends the right way as the struggle continues without victory.
8/10, Sayles bases his film around a small nucleus of maybe three or four characters, It could've been stronger but nonetheless he carried it out in the right way in my opinion.