Rating of
3/4
Indyfreak - wrote on 09/03/17
An elegiac and somber period drama that reenacts the tumultuous conflict between coal miners and the companies' strikebreakers in 1920s West Virginia. In his film debut, Chris Cooper plays a union rep trying to keep the peace between the weary miners and the ruthless thugs sent to quash their efforts to organize. It's earnest and stirs the viewers' emotions without resorting to schmaltzy melodrama. I heard the cinematography deliberately made the scenery look grimy and covered in soot. It certainly works but a lot of darkly lit scenes are hard to watch.
