Director: Barbara Kopple
Featuring: John L. Lewis, Carl Horn, Norman Yarborough, Logan Patterson, Joseph Yablonski, Arnold Miller, Florence Reece, Bazel Collins
Country: USA
Running Time: 104 min
Year: 1976
BBFC Certificate: TBC
Documentary filmmaker Barbara Kopple started out by assisting the Maysles brothers on a couple of their films, before setting up her own production company, Cabin Creek Films, in 1972. Her first project centred around the Miners for Democracy movement led by Arnold Miller. Miners in Harlan County, Kentucky went on strike around the same time, and Kopple and her crew moved to the area to document it.
The resulting film, entitled Harlan County USA, ended up taking four years to complete, but it won Best Documentary Feature at the Academy Awards and, more recently, was ranked joint 24th in Sight and Sound’s 2014 list of the Greatest Documentaries of All Time. Now, it’s being released on Blu-ray by the Criterion Collection, and I got hold of a copy to give my thoughts.
Harlan County USA takes a vérité approach to its subject, eschewing narration (which was common in documentaries prior to the 70s) in favour of letting the figures involved in the movement and strikes tell their own story.
Kopple and her crew managed to integrate themselves within the community, helping the subjects open up. It makes for a rich tapestry that feels genuine and human, rather than the constructed reality you often get in documentaries, even if the political stance of the film is rather one-sided.
Kopple does include interviews with the mine and power company owners, but the answers included do little to provide sympathy for their cause. I don’t see the film’s bias as an issue, however. Kopple never tries to hide that this is a film that’s making a statement. What’s admirable, though, is that it makes its point by immersing the viewer in the community. You get a strong sense of what they’re up against and the passions of those involved.
A great deal of the film is set on the picket line and union meetings. However, there’s some incredibly powerful footage from in the mines themselves at the beginning of the film. This immediately allows the viewer to see the shockingly difficult environment the men have to work in.
What’s notable in the film, however, is the part the women of Harlan County played in the strike action. After they were told the number of men allowed to be on the picket line was highly restricted, the wives of the miners figured there weren’t any restrictions on how many of them could be up there, so they joined in the fight themselves. The strength and resolve of these women, whilst the strike drags on and they’re threatened and harassed, is truly inspirational.
The filmmakers get themselves in some dangerous situations too, but like the locals, they stand up for themselves and take no nonsense from the thugs hired to break up the picket line.
The documentary is technically impressive, too, blending archival material that Koppel found in coalfield basements and the national archive with her own footage to seamlessly tell this rousing tale without relying on voiceover narration, using only the occasional line of on-screen text.
The film also makes extensive and highly effective use of folk, country and bluegrass music often written and performed by people in or linked to the mining community. These songs help tell the story whilst providing an earthy backing to the film.
Harlan County USA is an influential and still highly impressive documentary that deserves all the praise it gets. A rousing tale of standing up for your rights through thick and thin, it’s a vital piece of filmmaking.
Film: 
Harlan County USA is out on 7th September on Blu-Ray in the UK, released by The Criterion Collection. Given the nature of the film, it’s not going to be a reference disc for sharp, clean imagery, but it’s a natural-looking presentation with pleasing colours. As for the audio, this again seems like a strong representation of the original material. If you’re struggling with some of the thick accents in the film, there are subtitles for the hard of hearing included on the disc.
DIRECTOR-APPROVED 4K UHD + BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES
– New 4K digital restoration, supervised and approved by director Barbara Kopple, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack
– One 4K UHD disc of the film and one Blu-ray with the film and special features
– Audio commentary by Kopple and editor Nancy Baker
– Making-of documentary featuring interviews with Kopple, crew members, and strike participants featured in the film
– Outtakes from the film
– Interview with bluegrass singer-songwriter Hazel Dickens
– Interview with filmmaker John Sayles
– Panel discussion from the 2005 Sundance Film Festival featuring Kopple and critic Roger Ebert
– Trailer
– English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
– PLUS: Essays by film critic Michael Atkinson and musician and writer Jon Weisberger
– Cover by Eric Skillman
Director Barbara Kopple and supervising editor Nancy Baker provide a commentary. They talk in detail about how the project came about and how they shot it. They tell some eye-opening stories. The passion that was behind the film is clear.
Also included is a 21-minute documentary about the making of the film. This is excellent. It covers the production in detail.
There’s an interview with John Sayles, talking about how he used Harlan County USA as a touchstone for Matewan. He discusses what makes the film special.
There’s also a round table discussion on the film shot around its re-release screening at Sundance. Featuring Roger Ebert, alongside a few of the filmmakers, it’s a decent celebratory piece.
Hazel Dickens is interviewed about her life and music, as well as giving her thoughts on the film. This is another valuable addition to the set.
Finally, there are 26 minutes’ worth of deleted scenes. Among other things, they include an interview with one of the folk-singing miners and a couple of their songs.
I didn’t receive a copy of the booklet, unfortunately.
So, Criterion have done this superb film justice, with a well-stocked set of extras. I can’t recommend this release enough.
Disc/Package: 