This real-life incident of the coal miner's strike (and subsequent shootout between them and their bosses) could have been lost to history, perhaps only seen as a boring piece of history to read or study in school. But this movie makes the story exciting, suspenseful and thrilling, with interesting characters and terrific performances by David Strathairn (a police chief who may or may not be an ally to the workers), James Earl Jones (one of the workers), Chris Cooper as the union organizer and Mary McDonell as his wife. I recently watched this film, and loved it. It feels very realistic, and holds up remarkably well 35 years after its release, in my opinion. It really gave me a sense of what it is like to live in this coal miner's town in 1920; many of the residents lost their homes and had to live in tents. The director, John Sayles, plays a part in the film as a strict fundamentalist/conservative clergyman who preaches that unions are communist. Seems like very little has changed in 100 years, as we still have preachers and politicians against unions saying the same thing.
Some recent (2022) video & news clips that spotlight union workers in America, to help explain labor movements.
Unions vs. Amazon: A David and Goliath story (CBS This Morning, April 2022)
Gen Z is driving the Starbucks unionization movement (Washington Post, April 2022)
Why Starbucks Workers Fought to Unionize (Bloomberg, April 2022)
Starbucks' Union Busting Tactics Show They're Getting Desperate (Majority Report, September 2022)
