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 Matewan's miners go on strike, organizer Joe Kenehan (Chris Cooper, in his film 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.
Producer: Peggy Rajski
Director: John Sayles
Writer: John Sayles
Actor: James Earl Jones
Actor: Joe Grifasi
Actor: Will Oldham
Actor: Gordon Clapp
Actor: Josh Motel
Actor: Bob Gunton
Actor: Ken Jenkins
Actor: Mary McDonnell
Actor: Kevin Tighe
Actor: David Straithairn
Cinematographer: Haskell Wexler
Actor: Chris Cooper
Music: Mason Daring
Producer: Maggie Renzi