Matewan

[Dunk]

Wow! I was writing a paper and the Battle of Blair Mountain was one of the topics I was covering, and this is the first time I've ever heard of or watched the film Matewan.

8ItotzLiYvU

Really, if you haven't seen it, you should. :)

[Magón]

I actually watched it on TV a while back. Never got the name until a little while later. Haven't been able to find a decent copy of it anywhere.

[Rocky Rococo]

One of the coolest pieces of movie soundtrack music ever is in that movie. After the black and Italian workers brought in as strikebreakers join the strike, while the strikers are building a tent city there are some Appalachian fiddle takes on the Italian socialist anthem, "Bandiera Rossa".

[Manic Impressive]

what's it about?

[Magón]

what's it about?

The Battle of Blair Mountain, that happened in 1920s West Virginia Coal Country.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Blair_Mountain

[Nothing Human Is Alien]

No, it's not about the Battle of Blair Mountain at all. It a fictional story loosely based on the Battle of Matewan.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Matewan

I don't think it's a particularly great movie, and "the moral of the story" leaves a lot to be desired. If we're talking about coal mining in Appalachia, the documentary "Harlan County U.S.A." is much better.

iCiVMngILEI

[Magón]

No, it's not about the Battle of Blair Mountain at all. It a fictional story loosely based on the Battle of Matewan.

They're one and the same. Matewan is on Blair Mountain, and was just a piece of the whole fiasco that took place.

[A Revolutionary Tool]

Harlan County, USA full doc on youtube:
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I have to say I just finished Matewan for the first time right now and it was a pretty good movie. But I have to say Harlan County, USA beats Matewan no doubt if only because a hundred percent of it is fact and not actors playing roles with a script or anything. And it's totally frightening because you know those are real people, not actors.

[Nothing Human Is Alien]

They're one and the same. Matewan is on Blair Mountain, and was just a piece of the whole fiasco that took place.Nope, they're not.

The Battle of Matewan / Matewan Massacre was a shootout in the town of Matewan in 1920 that involved a handful of miners, the sheriff, the mayor, and some Baldwin-Felts detectives. 10 people were killed. Matewan is in Mingo County, West Virginia.

The Battle of Blair Mountain, in 1921, was the largest uprising in U.S. history since the Civil War. Thousands and thousands of miners marched to southern West Virginia and went to war with gunthugs, cops and the U.S. military. More than 100 people were killed and around 1000 were arrested. Blair Mountain is in Logan County, West Virginia.

After the battle of Matewan, Sheriff Hatfield was killed by Baldwin-Felts agents on the steps of the McDowell County Courthouse. They were never charged for the assassination. That contributed to the anger that lead to to the march on southern WVa, but we're talking about two different battles.

[Dunk]

I liked Matewan, and I just started playing Harlan County. I thought a positive message that Matewan concentrated on was that bosses benefit from racism among workers. I did notice how it seemed to highlight Sid Hatfield as a hero of the miners, in a way. From the little that I've read, that was true. But then again, ending the story there, with Sid the Sheriff as a hero, the Mayor a kind and pitiable person, without commenting on how the state police and Feds were called in to slaughter miners is a bit...unsettling. Still, I like the movie.

[S.Artesian]

As a movie, I think Matewan is one of the best US movies ever made-- as a "documentary," not so much. Nothing compares to the real history of the W. Va. coal miners struggles.

Further readings: When Miners March and The Battle for Blair Mountain

[RedTrackWorker]

Salt of the Earth is a great miners movie which I also like better than Matewan (also definitely rec Harlan County USA)

[KurtFF8]

I thought that Matewan was a fantastic film. So much so that I praised it on my site http://leftisminfilm.wordpress.com/2009/10/05/matewan-1987/


Matewan is a 1987 film directed by John Sayles. It deals with the Matewan Massacre (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matewan_massacre)(or the “Battle of Matewan”) when coal miners in West Virginia attempted to unionize and ran into significant resistance from the owners of the mines. The film deals with themes of the division of the working class along racial lines, working class direct action, and capital’s resistance to worker organization. Chris Cooper plays the main character who is a union organizer and former Wobblie. He seems a bit disillusioned with the labor movement in its lack to truly form “One Big Union.” He arrives in Matewan on the same train that was breaking in black strike-breakers to replace the striking miners when the train stops and he witnesses the black strike-breakers beaten by racists on the way to town.
http://leftisminfilm.files.wordpress.com/2009/08/matewan.jpg?w=300&h=164Cooper's character gives an anti-racist speech

Once he gets to town, he slowly tries to network and get in touch with the union where he tries to convince them to stand united with the workers coming to break the strike, while also convincing the strike-breakers that they ought not put the mine back in operation. This drama is highlighted in a scene where the “leader” of the black strike breakers comes to a meeting of the union and demonstrates that he is “no scab.” Cooper’s character gives a powerful speech denouncing the racism of the union and how workers need to stand together if they are to win their struggle against the company and the bosses. The visiting workers who were brought in to break the strike decide to stand in solidarity with the original workers and eventually join the strike to add more pressure on the company and thus make the strike more effective. This is what the rest of the film focuses on, the ongoing class struggle between the mine workers and the owners while the owners try various tactics of manipulating the workers (such as using agent provocateurs, lies, etc.) into defeat and ultimately fail (at least in the context of the film, historically the workers initially failed). The film ends with a major battle in the middle of the town that results in a few deaths, including Coopers character, yet the mood of the post-battle scene is that of optimism.
Where Sayles leaves this historical narrative off is of is incomplete with the actual struggles of mineworkers in WVA at the time. The “Battle of Matewan” lead almost directly to a larger, bloodier and more historically significant battle commonly known as the “Battle of Blair Mountain (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Blair_Mountain).” This battle involved the United Mine Workers of America who had been on strike and were involved with the Matewan incident and state and federal troops and is considered the largest labor uprising in US history (although it is not commonly taught in US schools). Sayles ends his story before this event took place, perhaps because he wished to leave on a positive note since the Battle for Blair Mountain resulted in a major defeat for UMWA. Although, many consider the labor laws passed in the 30s (and thus the resurgence of the labor movement) to be either directly or indriectly a result of the Battle of Blair Mountain, as the power that were in society at the time were backing the New Deal and attempting to avoid any sort of workers revolution (which at that time, was not an unrealistic possibility). Overall, Matewan is certainly a film worth watching as it portrays a chapter in US labor history that is often skipped over and forgotten.


Another good doc about West Virginia labor struggles is Mine War on Blackberry Creek (1986) (http://leftisminfilm.wordpress.com/2010/11/11/documentary-a-day-mine-war-on-blackberry-creek-1986/) (also written about on my site ;) I need to be a good opportunist after all). Although it is about much more recent history.

I will definitely check Harlan County USA out though

[RedSonRising]

I liked the film a lot.

[Jimmie Higgins]

I have to say I just finished Matewan for the first time right now and it was a pretty good movie. But I have to say Harlan County, USA beats Matewan no doubt if only because a hundred percent of it is fact and not actors playing roles with a script or anything. And it's totally frightening because you know those are real people, not actors.Apples and Oranges. They are both powerful movies. I like Matewan because it's like the worker's "High Noon". Harlan Co. is great though and it's amazing to watch people who could be your aunt or neighbor seriously talking about armed-self defense, shows how things can escalate in struggle.

[blake 3:17]

I've seen Harlan County, never seen Matewan.

The two John Sayles movies I've seen and loved were Passion Fish and Lone Star. Both fucking terrific.

Passion Fish moved me to no end. It's the story of two women -- a Black caregiver and a disabled White former TV star in the middle of nowhere, and how they work there shit out.

Lone Star is a Texas border mystery with some weird flips between past and present. Gorgeous.

[blake 3:17]

Salt of the Earth is a great miners movie which I also like better than Matewan (also definitely rec Harlan County USA)

Where did you get Salt Of The Earth? I knew of one screening here, but couldn't make it. It was blacklisted -- the official mechanism was the AFL-CIO --because the union that made it, Mine Mill, was too radical.

[x359594]

Another interesting movie about about coal miners is Black Fury (1935) where Paul Muni plays an outspoken Pennsylvania coal miner who takes a stand against company goons.

[RedTrackWorker]

Where did you get Salt Of The Earth? I knew of one screening here, but couldn't make it. It was blacklisted -- the official mechanism was the AFL-CIO --because the union that made it, Mine Mill, was too radical.

free (legally) online:
http://www.archive.org/details/clacinonl_SaltOfTheEarth

[blake 3:17]

Thanks so much!!! I learnt about it through the great book Many are the Crimes

http://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.php?id=3031

Thanks again!