Everything you've heard about "Harlan County, U. S. A" is true.
Barbara Kopple's expose on union strife in a Kentucky mining community is powerful, powerful stuff. This is the kind of movie I watch and then decide that I don't have any real problems to complain about. Movies like this should be required viewing, because they bring exposure to populations of Americans who no one ever talks about or seems to care about, who people immediately stereotype, and who people dismiss as not important enough to be part of the conversation. But these people are TOUGH, man! How many Americans can actually say with truth that they've stood up for something that could mean literal life or death for themselves and their families? These people did.
"Harlan County, U. S. A" won the 1976 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature, but it's also one of the best movies to come out that year, period.
Grade: A+
Barbara Kopple's expose on union strife in a Kentucky mining community is powerful, powerful stuff. This is the kind of movie I watch and then decide that I don't have any real problems to complain about. Movies like this should be required viewing, because they bring exposure to populations of Americans who no one ever talks about or seems to care about, who people immediately stereotype, and who people dismiss as not important enough to be part of the conversation. But these people are TOUGH, man! How many Americans can actually say with truth that they've stood up for something that could mean literal life or death for themselves and their families? These people did.
"Harlan County, U. S. A" won the 1976 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature, but it's also one of the best movies to come out that year, period.
Grade: A+