Directed by:
John SaylesScreenplay:
John SaylesCinematography:
Haskell WexlerComposer:
Mason DaringCast:
Chris Cooper, James Earl Jones, Mary McDonnell, Will Oldham, David Strathairn, Ken Jenkins, Gordon Clapp, Kevin Tighe, John Sayles, Bob Gunton, Josh Mostel (more)Plots(1)
Written and directed by John Sayles, this wrenching historical drama recounts the true story of a West Virginia coal town where the local miners’ struggle to form a union rose to the pitch of all-out war in 1920. When the town of Matewan’s miners go on strike, organizer Joe Kenehan (Chris Cooper, in his screen debut) arrives to help them, uniting workers white and black, Appalachia-born and immigrant, while urging patience in the face of the coal company’s violent provocations. With a crackerjack ensemble cast including James Earl Jones, David Strathairn, Mary McDonnell, and Will Oldham and Oscar-nominated cinematography by Haskell Wexler, Matewan taps into a rich vein of Americana with painstaking attention to local texture, issuing an impassioned cry for justice that still resounds today. (Criterion)
(more)Cast
Chris Cooper
USA
Best movies:
American Beauty (1999)
The Bourne Supremacy (2004)
The Bourne Identity (2002)
James Earl Jones
USA
Best movies:
The Simpsons.com (2000) (video compilation)
Dangerous: The Short Films (1993) (video compilation)
Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
Mary McDonnell
USA
Best movies:
Dances with Wolves (1990)
Battlestar Galactica (2003) (TV movie)
Donnie Darko (2001)
Will Oldham
USA
Best movies:
Matewan (1987)
Jackass 3D (2010)
Everybody's Baby: The Rescue of Jessica McClure (1989) (TV movie)
David Strathairn
USA
Best movies:
L.A. Confidential (1997)
The Bourne Ultimatum (2007)
Temple Grandin (2010) (TV movie)
Ken Jenkins
USA
Best movies:
The Abyss (1989)
I Am Sam (2001)
And the Band Played On (1993) (TV movie)
Gordon Clapp
USA
Best movies:
Gross Anatomy (1989)
Matewan (1987)
Running (1979)
Kevin Tighe
USA
Best movies:
The Graduate (1967)
What's Eating Gilbert Grape (1993)
Matewan (1987)
John Sayles
USA
Best movies:
Matewan (1987)
Passion Fish (1992)
Gridlock'd (1997)
Bob Gunton
USA
Best movies:
The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
JFK (1991)
Dolores Claiborne (1995)
Josh Mostel
USA
Best movies:
Jesus Christ Superstar (1973)
The Basketball Diaries (1995)
Radio Days (1987)
Jace Alexander
USA
Best movies:
Matewan (1987)
Love and a .45 (1994)
Crocodile Dundee 2 (1988)
Joe Grifasi
USA
Best movies:
The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! (1988)
The Deer Hunter (1978)
Sunday (1997)
Davide Ferrario
Italy
Best movies:
Matewan (1987)
Mason Daring
USA
Best movies:
Matewan (1987)
City of Hope (1991)
Tom Wright
USA
Best movies:
The Pentagon Wars (1998) (TV movie)
Matewan (1987)
Passion Fish (1992)
Scott A. Martin
USA
Best movies:
Jack Reacher (2012)
Matewan (1987)
Unstoppable (2010)
Maggie Renzi
Best movies:
Matewan (1987)
Men with Guns (1997)
Passion Fish (1992)
Michael Mantell
Best movies:
The World's Fastest Indian (2005)
Quiz Show (1994)
Thank You for Smoking (2005)
Jo Henderson
USA
Best movies:
Matewan (1987)
Lianna (1983)
Murder in Coweta County (1983) (TV movie)