The pink wad is brain tissue from a striker shot in the head by a strikebreaker. Barbara kopple and her team provide viewers with an unprecedented look at the labor movement. Harlan county, usa feminist films in the swarthmorebryn. Analysis of the documentary harlan county, usa type. A kentucky woman whose mineworker husband is nearly killed in a cavein, and whose father is slowly dying of black lung disease, joins the picket lines for a long, violent strike. Summary of facts the movie s main focus is the reallife documentation of a strike stages by miners in the brookside mine versus duke power business, a big energy company in the united states, for its supposed unfair labor practices, unsafe working conditions, and low. This edition of harlan county, usa has been transferred to disc in letterboxed format at the widescreen aspect ratio of 1. The film retains all of its power, in the story of a miners strike in kentucky where the company employed armed goons to escort scabs into the mines, and the most effective picketers were the miners wives articulate, indominable, courageous. Barbara kopple accepts academy award for harlan county usa duration. Of 3,142 counties in the united states in 20, harlan county ranked 3,9 in the longevity of both male and female residents. Harlan county, usa is a 1976 documentary film covering the brookside strike, an effort of 180 coal miners and their wives against the duke power companyowned eastover coal companys brookside mine and prep plant in harlan county, southeast kentucky in 1973. Harlan county, usa is a documentary film that was produced and directed by barbara kopple, a long time advocate of worker and civil rights. Harlan county, nebraska po box 698 alma, ne 68920 phone.
The film captures the dire poverty of the miners and their families, and their bitter and violent struggles against both eastover and unionbusting scabs and. Harlan county, usa by barbara kopple barbara kopple. Watch harlan county, usa movie trailers, exclusive videos, interviews from the cast, movie clips and more at. Director barbara kopples look at a month coal miners strike that took place between 1973 and 1974 in harlan county, ky, is one of the great films about labor troubles, though not. Harlan county, usa is reallife drama of the highest order. May 05, 2012 harlan county, usa 1976 posted on may 5. Analysis of the documentary harlan county, usa free essay. Thats one of the harsh realities of harlan county usa. Enter email and password and required information 2. Harlan county, we learn, was once the site of a miners strike in the 1930s that became so violent the town earned the moniker bloody harlan. It contains a famous scene where guns are fired at the strikers in the darkness before dawn, and kopple and her cameraman are knocked down and beaten.
Enter your location to see which movie theaters are playing harlan county, u. Featuring a haunting soundtrackwith legendary country and bluegrass artists hazel dickens, merle. With norman yarborough, houston elmore, phil sparks, john corcoran. A filmed account of a bitterly violent miner strike. Few documentaries today have the immediacy, intensity, or militant appeal of this oscarwinning film, an edgeofyourseat tribute to a courageous group of hard hats and their families. After the coal miners at the brookside mine join a union, the owners. Harlan county, usa is a 1976 oscarwinning documentary film covering the brookside strike,an effort of 180 coal miners and their wives against the duke power companyowned eastover coal companys brookside mine and prep plant in harlan county, southeast kentucky in 1973.
Analysis of the documentary harlan county, usa free essay example. Jul 24, 20 harlan county usa is a film that is great at bringing you inside a community you probably havent thought much about before. Filmed in the coal country of west virginia, matewan celebrates labor organizing in the context of a 1920s work stoppage. With holly hunter, stellan skarsgard, ted levine, wayne robson. Harlan county, usa is an oscarwinning documentary about a month strike between coal miners and the brookside mine of the eastover mining company in eastern kentucky in 1973 and 1974. The film follows what was known as the brookside strike, when around 180 coal miners in 1973 fought for better working conditions against eastover coal company, owned by duke power company. Harlan county, usa, an oscarwinning documentary directed and produced by prominent filmmaker barbara kopple in 1976, is an incredibly moving film that tells the story using an intersection of the participatory and observational documentary modes of coal miners in kentucky who, together with their families, endured a long, violent strike in defense of their rights.
Parents need to know that harlan county, usa is a riveting and intense 1976 documentary chronicling a month miners strike in eastern kentucky that shows violent altercations between strikers and unionbusters, as well as the funeral of a murdered striker where family members are expressing deep shock and sorrow. Barbara kopples academy awardwinning harlan county usa unflinchingly documents a grueling coal miners strike in a small kentucky town. Harlan county usa is a film that is great at bringing you inside a community you probably havent thought much about before. This is a documentary talking about the mine strikes of harlan county, kentucky in 1973 where the laborers and miners of harlan took on the mine owner. In this documentary about labor tension in the coalmining industry, director barbara kopple films a strike in rural kentucky. Nov 25, 2006 this is the harlan county usa movie trailer. As the film opens, kopple takes her cameras right down to ground zero. See more ideas about harlan county, my old kentucky home and harlan kentucky. Harlan county follows with precision and detail the development of the long conflict in harlan. Rounder records has also added related material drawn mostly from two earlier album releases, 1972s come all you coal miners and 1984. Thats what a scab will do to ya, by god, he says, his voice quavering with emotion.
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