“Harlan County, U.S.A.”

“Harlan County, U.S.A.”

When Barbara Kopple first went to Harlan County, her aim was to film the Arnold Miller-Tony Boyle election contest for the presidency of the United Mine Workers. Fortunately, Kopple didn’t remain true to her original purpose. She stayed and recorded the 13-month-long struggle (from July 1973 to August 1974) of the Brookside mine workers to win a contract from the Eastover Mining Company, a subsidiary of Duke Power. What might have been a solid, but limited, documentary became instead Harlan County, U.S.A., a portrayal of the Brookside miners that records not only the details of their strike but, like the best of the new journalism, captures the viewpoint of the participants themselves. The result is a movie that holds our ...