Filmmaker Barbara Kopple, then in her mid twenties, spent several years living in the impoverished mining community of Harlan County, Kentucky. If it was her goal to document the evils of poorly regulated capitalism, and its inherent maldistribution of wealth, she could hardly have found a better environment.

The coal miners and their families get our sympathy upon first sight. The miners emerge from the dark and claustrophobic shafts covered with soot, with the older miners gasping for breath from the effects of black lung. But they have to keep working, as there is no retirement plan. There's no dental plan either, as their teeth clearly indicate. We see a young mother bathing her child in a washtub. They don't have a bathtub, or running water. Some of the families do not have electricity.

Perhaps their quality of life would improve if they were represented by a union. But perhaps not. In the early 1970s, the United Mine Workers was led by its longtime president, Tony Boyle. Boyle's election opponent was Joseph Yablonski, but Boyle found novel ways to win the election. Not content merely to make illegal campaign contributions with union funds, for which he was convicted in 1972, he had Yablonksi killed, along with his wife and daughter. Boyle was convicted of the murders in 1974. By this time, fortunately, he had been replaced by the decidely more reformist Arnold Miller.

But despite its problems, the Union represents hope for the miners of Harlan County. The begin a strike to join the union in 1973. Mine operators controlled by Duke Power try to break the strike by hiring 'scab' workers, who cross picket lines in convoys with the help of intimidating 'gun thugs'. The strike stretches on for thirteen months, polarizing the mining town into factions that resort to violence.

Kopple makes little pretense at impartiality. She is on the side of the striking mine workers, who are portrayed as earnest, hard-working, and dedicated to the Union. Company officials get the robber baron treatment. They downplay the effects of black lung disease, and procrastinate on mine maintenance until it results in disaster. 78 miners died in a 1968 collapse of a tunnel, which reportedly had previously failed nineteen consecutive inspections.

Kopple identifies most strongly with the miners' wives, who assume the same duties as the men on the picket line. The daily confrontations between the 'scab' strike-breakers and the striking workers, who attempt to block the road, provide much drama. The film raises ethical issues of law enforcement. Should the sheriff look the other way when one side or the other has broken the law? The sheriff depends on the mining families for votes, but takes orders from superiors who favor the company.

Perhaps the best part of Harlan County, U.S.A. is the score. The soundtrack contains several of Hazel Dickens' pro-Union anthems, which have a working class fury deserving of Woody Guthrie's legacy.

The labor struggles of Harlan County were later dramatized in a Showtime movie, Harlan County War (2000) starring Holly Hunter. The documentary also possibly inspired Norma Rae (1979), a rural Southern drama which won Sally Field an Oscar for Best Actress.

Harlan County, U.S.A. won an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature. Kopple would eventually repeat her success, winning a second Oscar with another pro-labor documentary, American Dream (1990). (78/100)

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Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: VHS
Video Occasion: Fit for Friday Evening
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children Age 13 and Older