It’s time for a film based on true events. Those always hit extra hard when you don’t really know about the events beforehand. The whole strike was new to me so that made things nice and unpredictable. It’s definitely an intense film where there are no easy victories. We have the heroes holding back for most of the film but eventually once it is time to fight, they do deliver. It covers a lot of ground and so overall I was definitely satisfied with it.

The movie starts with Joe moving into a small town. It’s really in a difficult spot here as the mining company is making people perform back breaking work with no real pay or benefits at all. They are treated as disposable tools who can be replaced at any time. In the movie they even mention how a lot of the miners keep dying left and right. You may wonder why they put up with this but there just weren’t many options available to them at this point in time. They took what they could get and that’s really all that there was to it. There is a union, but it is incredibly weak here and the company has been successful in setting off race wars among the miners so they don’t work together. Well, Joe is here to tell them that there is a better way but will he be successful?

One thing you have to remember about strikes, particularly back in the days is that it was incredibly dangerous. Often times you are up against an entity that is much more powerful than you are. They will have more guns, people, and typically even the law on their side. After all, the legality of striking in general can range from technically being legal to being completely illegal. Then at that point you have to hope you can hold out. So during the course of the film you have people being forced to live in the wilderness since all of their assets and homes were taken away. It’s an incredible challenge for all of them.

Then eventually this escalates into full blown violence and you also have people who will be tempted to go traitor or look out for their own self interests. There are so many factors in place that it makes sense how difficult it is to have everyone on the same page. Some characters can be rather gullible though. At the end of the day it is always important to remember to hear both sides of an argument, especially if you are friends with someone. It’s unfortunately realistic though. Often times you’ll hear someone spreading around rumors and lies about your friend and instead of asking them what’s up, the person will believe this right away and continue escalating.

If you are actually friends with someone, then you should face them and ask about what’s going on. It’s the only way to avoid misunderstandings like this. One of the heroines here definitely made a huge mistake there. I also thought the traitor got off super easy here but I suppose depending on what we know about him from the real life event, it’s not like the film could really just make something up. I mean it could, but probably not a good idea if you’re trying to really be a full adaption that is true to life.

The best character by far is the sheriff though. He was a true standout from the start. I figured that he would be useless at best and an ally to the company at worst. Fortunately neither of those two options happened and he really looked after his people. He wasn’t about to be overpowered in his own town and really fought to the end. The fact that he could actually fight was also good since it showed that he wasn’t just all talk. The climax is very impressive and ended things on a high note. Every scene with the sheriff in it was quite good.

The mayor was not nearly impressive though. Even by the end he’s whining about how he just wanted to talk but it’s obvious that this wasn’t an option. He’s the kind of character who will still be talking as he’s getting shot. In some cases you have to make the first move because if you don’t, then you’ll end up being dead. It’s one of those topics that i shard to debate though because everyone is pretty firm on their sides. I’d just say that for my take, in a life or death situation you can’t afford to wait.

This is my issue with Joe at times here. He keeps telling everyone to be patient and keep on waiting but after a while it’s clear that this is not working. The mining company is not above breaking the law and doing whatever they want. If you wait too long then you will eventually fold. There are times when waiting is good to be sure and Joe does help on different occasions but he does start to get annoying by the end. You can only stick to the same plan for so long before it starts to become a burden. Joe didn’t really adapt with the situation and that’s what held him back here.

At the end of the day, the film reminds you that a union is only as strong as its members. To stand up to a whole group like this, you need a lot of fighters and muscle to back them up. If the sheriff didn’t have his guns, then all of Joe’s tough talk wouldn’t have mattered at all. The villains made it clear that they would have just shot him and had the whole situation done with. Joe doesn’t seem to factor that part in though which is when you shake your head.

I will say that the movie also doesn’t hold back on just how rough corporate is. They literally go around slitting throats and burning churches. It may almost seem cartoonishly evil to an extent but I have no doubt that these things would have happened. The company would act almost like the mafia to get its way. Even nowadays we see mass firings when different places try to start a union. Sure we may be past the point of rifles and everyone being shot on sight but corporate has never lost sight of trying to stay on top of things.

Overall, Matewan is definitely an interesting film. I’d imagine it was a pretty faithful retelling of events as it wasn’t pulling any punches. The film didn’t mince words on how much the miners suffered even as they got their licks in. There was a ton of collateral damage but at least they did change the system in the end. Change often comes at a high price after all, it’s not something that just happens. If you are interested in the situation then you should definitely check out the film. Just remember that it is an intense journey all the way through.