Matewan (1987) with James Earl Jones, Chris Cooper

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)

Selma (2014) + 50 years

Today - March 7, 2015 - marks the 50th anniversary of the "boody Sunday" protest march in Selma Alabama, USA of March 7, 1965.

On that day, hundreds of black marchers set out to walk all the way to  Montgomery (Alabama's capitol) to protest their inability to vote. After they crossed the Pettus bridge in Selma they were stopped by Alabama state troopers who beat them and sprayed them with tear gas. And history records that Martin Luther King Jr eventually led the successful march, which included people from all over the United States, white and black.

Selma (2014) is all about how these events took place, with a special focus on Dr. King's crucial leadership role. David Oyellowo, who was very good in The Help (2011), embodies Dr. King and is exceptional. The actress who plays his wife Corretta is also really good.

I think the best kinds of movies entertain and educate at the same time. Selma is such a movie for me, one I want to experience again. It not only impresses me visually with the period sets/costumes and striking cinematography, but it also inspires me to read more and learn more about this part of America's history, and the many people that are portrayed in the film, such as the character Oprah Winfrey plays, a woman who is denied the right to vote in a humiliating way.

Selma was only nominated for two Oscars, but I thought it should have earned at least two more for its lead actor and for its director (Ava DuVernay) who does a commendable job of bringing these events to life.

Though it wasn't showered with Oscars, I do think this film will be viewed again in the years and decades to come and will be remembered as not only one of one of the best films of 2014, but one of the best films about the civil rights movement in the 1960s.