Matewan
1987Directed by: John Sayles
Starring: Chris Cooper, James Earl Jones, Mary McDonnell
Filmed in the coal country of West Virginia, "Matewan" celebrates labor organizing in the context of a 1920s work stoppage. Union organizer, Joe Kenehan, a scab named "Few Clothes" Johnson and a sympathetic mayor and police chief heroically fight the power represented by a coal company and Matewan's vested interests so that justice and workers' rights need not take a back seat to squalid working conditions, exploitation and the bottom line.
History
Drama
Politics and human rights
Racism and the powerful fight for justice
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Religious faith, sin, and forgiveness
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