Harlan County, U.S.A.

I definitely get what people see in Harlan County U.S.A., it does show some terrible things and have many powerful moments. But it wasn't my favorite as a film. The gritty filmmaking makes it not the most enjoyable, and much of the plot felt repetitive. Though this film definitely has its strengths, I didn't like it all too much.

Gee, and I thought I had it tough working my way through college in the Seventies! For students of history this is a Must See. If there had been a dentist in that town these miner families were too poor to obtain his services. After you see this documentary you'll never again say "The unions will be the death of this country!"

Pretty extraordinary just how intense the picket line got back in the mid 70s and the passion showers by the workers is great cinema. But the documentary is beset by problems like poor sound quality, romanticised country hick music and an extremely one sided account. There's drama and impassioned oppressed worker sentimentality to enjoy in any case. Not all bad but too conventional a documentary to be groundbreaking.

Harlan County, Kentucky is the coal mining haven of America This documentary directed by Barbara Copple chronicles several families in this town of their battle against the corporate system by unionizing The men work long hours for short wages Poverty, black lung disease, and disaster are daily facts of life in Harlan County U.S.A. After the coal miners at the Brookside Mine join a union in 1973, the owners refuse the labor contract leading to a workers strike Once the miners start to strike, the owners of the mine respond by hiring scabs to fill the jobs of the regular employees even being escorted by police The strike, which lasts more than a year, frequently becomes violent, with guns produced on both sides, and one miner is even killed in a conflict The townsfolk feel they're being treated like animals by the Duke Power Co. headed by Carl Horn who's assured everyone he's made them dozens of offers His company maintains housing for people who don't have indoor plumbing or running water and provides trailer homes Yet the workers make a stand saying they've been shot at, beaten, imprisoned their whole lives It's also not the first time violence has been used when it comes to these demonstrations as it first occurred in the early 1930's You can shoot someone but never shoot the Union out of them Even the women become strong activists for the coal miner's workers Union whom are courageous, loud, honest, and articulate For a lot of the miners they can barely get a pension and end up quitting because of the terrible work environment This film won the Oscar for best feature documentary of 1976 and was even inducted into the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress in 1990 Takes a lot of courage to cover something like this but more to document it all on film because it's real The violent encounters Copple witnesses are raw and riveting Nice partisan documentary filmmaking even if it suffers from some structural issues and lapses of judgement This film shows the lack of theoretical foundations in the American labour movement being a pioneer for struggle and change Not for everyone but important still to acknowledge

Whose side (you're supposed) to be on?

Documentarian Barbara Kopple's Harlan County USA is a remarkable film, following a thirteen-month coal miner strike at the Brookside Mine in eastern Kentucky. The events escalate steadily from beginning to end, ultimately resulting in gunfire and death. The film provides insight into the corporate greed of the mine owners, the steely determination of the miners as they fight for fair wages and safe working conditions, and how a community comes together and stands shoulder to shoulder to defend their principles. Kopple has to be commended for her guerrilla tactics, often throwing herself and her crew into insanely dangerous situations. The film seems to lose a bit of focus when it strays too far from the strike activity, but it still a powerful and impactful film.

Extremely intimate and engaging documentary about a year long coal miner strike in Harlan County, Kentucky told through the eyes of the strikers. Kopple, at such a young age and as a first time filmmaker, achieves this level of intimacy by relying largely on primary footage to tell the miner's story, in their own words, and offers no narration or voice overs, letting the emotionally charged footage speak for itself. The saddest aspect about watching a doc like this is realizing how many people are still dealing with these same economic issues forty years later.

Rating:PG Genre:Documentary Directed By:Barbara Kopple In Theaters:Jan 23, 1977 Wide On Disc/Streaming:Apr 25, 2006 Runtime:103 minutes This film chronicles the bitter and violent struggle waged by coal miners during a strike in 1973 in Eastern Kentucky against the Eastover Mining Company. The story focuses on the miners and their families' fight for decent living standards in an area where many still live in shacks with no indoor plumbing and work at jobs with little security and dangerous conditions. Where this film is at its best is where it uses historical footage and traditional labor songs to tie the strike to the larger past, and also where it explores other details of these people's lives health issues , living conditions that aren't specific to the strike.I discovered Hazel Dickens form the film 'Harlan County U.S.A. Fantastic hillbilly singer.

Riveting and eye-opening!

A very intense documentary about the famous ''Brookside Strike'' in 1972/3, when the miners in Harlan County, (Kentucky, USA) went on a strike. The miners have decided to join the United Miners of America (UMWA) trade union, and then they insisted that the company which owns the mine signs a collective agreement with the UMWA. The company refused, and so began the strike that lasted for over a year. The director-cinematographer Barbara Kopple spent several years living with the miners in Harlan, and during the strike she has managed to capture some remarkable scenes, the most remarkable one being the miners' 1/2(TM) wifes who practically led the strike when the men became weary of physical clashes between the miners and armed strikebreakers. In the end, one of the strikebreakers killed one miner, and only after that incident the company agreed to the signing of the contract and some other requests put forward by the miners. This film portrays, in a very clear and unambiguous manner, how the whole system stands in the service of the company, and against the miners. From politicians and the police, to the judge who unjustly sentenced the workers to two months in prison for obstructing traffic because they tried to prevent the passage of strikebreakers. On the other hand, the miners and their wives are openly aware of their social belonging and highly appreciate workers' organizing and solidarity, although we never see an open anti-capitalist engagement in the form of advocacy for a different social order. Initially Barbara Kopple intended to make a film about the movement called ''Miners for Democracy'', which emerged within the rank-and-file UMWA, with the aim to overthrow the corrupt union leadership that was more concerned about protecting the mining company than protecting the miners. In 1969, the UMWA president Tony Boyle faked the intra-union elections and subsequently ordered the killing of the opposing candidate. In 1972, ''Miners for Democracy'' finally managed to replace Boyle, and that contributed to an atmosphere of combativeness throughout the organization. When the strike began in June of 1972, Kopple focused on the strike and decided to change the whole concept of the film. It should be borne in mind that the world of miners' unions in USA and the class struggle in the form shown in this documentary no longer exists in this form as it was destroyed during the eighties in reganist neo-conservative (neoliberal) counter-revolution and the relocation of primary production to the countries of the periphery of the world system.