This is a fairly good union strikers film, but I had some issues with it. Primarily, the capitalists, bankers, wealthy families and politicians are completely absent here. They take on an abstract identity, referred to as "big people," but we never really get a sense of who the miners are actually struggling against, and who is making the miners' lives a living hell. Instead all we get are 2 contracted union busters who seem a bit foolish, a quite pathetic spy, and a few random henchmen. I would have preferred to see a more authentic look at the true enemy: the capitalist class, as the TV show Damnation did so well, for example.
Another issue I had with this film was the poor plot design and writing. There was some good here, but the plot surrounding the spy was quite absurd in execution, and generally we didn't get too much of a perspective on the real treacherous conditions they were facing, or the social and economic background behind it. Instead we hear more conventional ideas like not letting the workers be pitted against each other.
Finally, the movie depicts the Wobblies as being pacifists, insofar as the main character pleads for the workers not to resort to violence; but this I found unconvincing and anachronistic, likely a result of the anti-war and pacifist movements a decade or so before this film was made.
Ultimately this movie comes across as one written and directed by someone who's interested in a 'centrist's' or status quo take on history, but who hasn't done their research into the real material conditions. This isn't surprising, as this film was made in the late 80s, when anti-union and anti-communist rhetoric was at its peak in America. On the bright side, this movie does escape having any feeling of the 80s, which is rare for other films of its time.
Another issue I had with this film was the poor plot design and writing. There was some good here, but the plot surrounding the spy was quite absurd in execution, and generally we didn't get too much of a perspective on the real treacherous conditions they were facing, or the social and economic background behind it. Instead we hear more conventional ideas like not letting the workers be pitted against each other.
Finally, the movie depicts the Wobblies as being pacifists, insofar as the main character pleads for the workers not to resort to violence; but this I found unconvincing and anachronistic, likely a result of the anti-war and pacifist movements a decade or so before this film was made.
Ultimately this movie comes across as one written and directed by someone who's interested in a 'centrist's' or status quo take on history, but who hasn't done their research into the real material conditions. This isn't surprising, as this film was made in the late 80s, when anti-union and anti-communist rhetoric was at its peak in America. On the bright side, this movie does escape having any feeling of the 80s, which is rare for other films of its time.