Harlan County, U.S.A.

PG

Released Oct 16, 1976

1h 43m

Documentary

List

100%

22 Reviews

Tomatometer

92%

2,500+ Ratings

Audience Score

In this documentary about labor tension in the coal-mining industry, director Barbara Kopple films a strike in rural Kentucky. After the coal miners at the Brookside Mine join a union, the owners refuse the labor contract. Once the miners start to strike, the owners of the mine respond by hiring scabs to fill the jobs of the regular employees. The strike, which lasts more than a year, frequently becomes violent, with guns produced on both sides, and one miner is even killed in a conflict.

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Pauline Kael

New Yorker

Barbara Kopple isn't a great documentarian, but she has a great subject in Harlan County, U.S.A, and she has the taste and sensitivity not to betray it.

Jan 23, 2024

Full Review

Elliott Stein

Film Comment Magazine

Few documentaries rivet you to your seat; this one does. The guts it took to make are up there on the screen, in the footage shot by director Barbara Kopple and cameraman Hart Perry during the violent encounters.

Rated: 2/4

Apr 10, 2018

Full Review

Gary Arnold

Washington Post

Suffers from some makeshift structural devices and occasional lapses of judgment, but it's an ardent, absorbing work of partisan documentary film-making.

May 10, 2017

Full Review

Brian Susbielles

InSession Film

Raw emotions on display without any manipulation...

Mar 8, 2023

Full Review

Kerry Schott

Spare Rib

Harlan County USA is a powerful documentary of a long and brave struggle. But it also shows the lack of theoretical foundations in the American labour movement.

Sep 22, 2021

Full Review

Jason Shawhan

Nashville Scene

Harlan County USA is one of the most important films ever made about American labor.

Sep 10, 2021

Full Review

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Russ

Gee, and I thought I had it tough working my way through college in the Seventies! For students of history this is a Must See. If there had been a dentist in that town these miner families were too poor to obtain his services. After you see this documentary you'll never again say "The unions will be the death of this country!"

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

04/01/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Pretty extraordinary just how intense the picket line got back in the mid 70s and the passion showers by the workers is great cinema. But the documentary is beset by problems like poor sound quality, romanticised country hick music and an extremely one sided account. There's drama and impassioned oppressed worker sentimentality to enjoy in any case. Not all bad but too conventional a documentary to be groundbreaking.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

01/28/23

Full Review

jon c

Harlan County, Kentucky is the coal mining haven of America This documentary directed by Barbara Copple chronicles several families in this town of their battle against the corporate system by unionizing The men work long hours for short wages Poverty, black lung disease, and disaster are daily facts of life in Harlan County U.S.A. After the coal miners at the Brookside Mine join a union in 1973, the owners refuse the labor contract leading to a workers strike Once the miners start to strike, the owners of the mine respond by hiring scabs to fill the jobs of the regular employees even being escorted by police The strike, which lasts more than a year, frequently becomes violent, with guns produced on both sides, and one miner is even killed in a conflict The townsfolk feel they're being treated like animals by the Duke Power Co. headed by Carl Horn who's assured everyone he's made them dozens of offers His company maintains housing for people who don't have indoor plumbing or running water and provides trailer homes Yet the workers make a stand saying they've been shot at, beaten, imprisoned their whole lives It's also not the first time violence has been used when it comes to these demonstrations as it first occurred in the early 1930's You can shoot someone but never shoot the Union out of them Even the women become strong activists for the coal miner's workers Union whom are courageous, loud, honest, and articulate For a lot of the miners they can barely get a pension and end up quitting because of the terrible work environment This film won the Oscar for best feature documentary of 1976 and was even inducted into the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress in 1990 Takes a lot of courage to cover something like this but more to document it all on film because it's real The violent encounters Copple witnesses are raw and riveting Nice partisan documentary filmmaking even if it suffers from some structural issues and lapses of judgement This film shows the lack of theoretical foundations in the American labour movement being a pioneer for struggle and change Not for everyone but important still to acknowledge

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Whose side (you're supposed) to be on?

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

02/05/23

Full Review

dave s

Documentarian Barbara Kopple's Harlan County USA is a remarkable film, following a thirteen-month coal miner strike at the Brookside Mine in eastern Kentucky. The events escalate steadily from beginning to end, ultimately resulting in gunfire and death. The film provides insight into the corporate greed of the mine owners, the steely determination of the miners as they fight for fair wages and safe working conditions, and how a community comes together and stands shoulder to shoulder to defend their principles. Kopple has to be commended for her guerrilla tactics, often throwing herself and her crew into insanely dangerous situations. The film seems to lose a bit of focus when it strays too far from the strike activity, but it still a powerful and impactful film.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

03/30/23

Full Review

rob k

This film chronicles the bitter and violent struggle waged by coal miners during a strike in 1973 in Eastern Kentucky against the Eastover Mining Company. The story focuses on the miners and their families' fight for decent living standards in an area where many still live in shacks with no indoor plumbing and work at jobs with little security and dangerous conditions. Where this film is at its best is where it uses historical footage and traditional hillbilly labor songs to tie the strike to the larger past, and also where it explores other details of these people's lives health issues , living conditions that aren't specific to the strike. 9/10 I discovered Hazel Dickens form the film 'Harlan County U.S.A. Fantastic hillbilly singer

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

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Synopsis

In this documentary about labor tension in the coal-mining industry, director Barbara Kopple films a strike in rural Kentucky. After the coal miners at the Brookside Mine join a union, the owners refuse the labor contract. Once the miners start to strike, the owners of the mine respond by hiring scabs to fill the jobs of the regular employees. The strike, which lasts more than a year, frequently becomes violent, with guns produced on both sides, and one miner is even killed in a conflict.

Director: Barbara Kopple
Distributor: Cinema 5 Distributing
Production Co: Cabin Creek
Rating: PG
Genre: Documentary
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Oct 16, 1976, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Oct 15, 2020
Runtime: 1h 43m

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