Oppenheimer

 SPOILER ALERT. The plot will be discussed.

Oppenheimer (2023), winner of the Best Picture Oscar, is based on the book entitled America Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer, the nuclear physicist who helped create the atomic bomb in 1945. In mythology, Prometheus defied the gods and gave fire to humanity. For his transgression he was tortured by having a giant bird chew at his liver while he was in chains. It is a rich metaphor for daring to defy the order of things by reaching above the human realm. (A similar theme is in the tale of Icarus and Daedalus). Oppenheimer harnessed the basic power of existence and for that he suffered psychological punishment through guilt and the persecution of the political system when he advised against developing and using the weapons he helped to create.

The first image in the film is water rippling on the ground in the rain. That shot combines with depictions of atomic particles and an explosion due to atomic fission as Oppenheimer stares with a frightened look at the metaphorical consequences of his work. The result is the suggestion that there can be an escalating chain reaction once humans tamper with the building blocks of the universe. The water image repeats in the film as a reminder of consequences.

The film jumps to when Oppenheimer (Cillian Murphy, in his Oscar-winning role) undergoes scrutiny for his past political associations with communism. This great scientist receives praise for his achievements for America and then, as if needing a scapegoat for the destruction the United States unleashed, his country blames him for being unpatriotic. (Murphy’s gaunt appearance – he lost weight for the role – and his voice trying to stay steady, along with subtle facial changes transform the actor, and he is totally convincing in this performance).

The film then focuses on Lewis Strauss (Robert Downey, Jr, receiving the Best Supporting Oscar for this role. He is great at presenting surface calm with anger simmering below). Strauss was a leader on the Atomic Energy Commission. He is talking with an aide in connection with his nomination for a post with the Eisenhower Administration. He appears reluctant to be associated with the Congressional investigation into Oppenheimer. We get an immediate insight into Strauss’s personality when he corrects the aide by stating he should be addressed as “Admiral.” As we see he is negatively impacted by what he considers slights.

As he testifies before a committee, Oppenheimer states that when he was studying in England, he was troubled by images of a hidden universe, possibly a precognition of the awe and danger of the nuclear world. Christopher Nolan (Winner of the Best Director Oscar for this work) depicts shifting time periods and is adept at cutting to Oppenheimer’s viewpoint here, with visions of the atomic world, which he depicts in color. He said it was to stress the scientist’s point of view, which was subjective and the camera is closer to Oppenheimer, making the face a landscape, according to the cinematographer. The screenplay was in the first person, a very unusual technique, to stress Oppenheimer’s take on things. Strauss’s scenes are in black and white, supposedly an objective viewpoint, at least as Strauss sees the facts, and the camera shoots farther away to suggest objectivity. Nolan said, despite the back and forth shifting of time periods, structured it first as an origin story, then a kind of suspense film in making the bomb, and then a trial sequence. Nolan combines old school with new school technology. He does not prefer CGI, and still uses film, but IMAX has visual resolution superior to digital photography. This film is the first to do black-and-white in IMAX.

Back in time, Kenneth Branagh plays famous scientist Neils Bohr, who advises Oppenheimer to leave Cambridge since Oppenheimer is not great at lab work and should delve only into theory. Bohr says that to truly understand the science he must not only read the music he must “hear the music.” Oppenheimer says he can. The musical score in the film echoes his ecstatic insights and the deeper tones of those revelations.

Oppenheimer poisoned an apple for his demeaning professor but stops Bohr from eating it. The apple has Biblical references, showing that knowledge kills innocence and can lead to a fall from grace. It also shows the darkness inside of Oppenheimer that here manifests in a personal manner and later in a global one.

He throws glasses into the corner of his room as if the broken, dangerous shards mimic what happens when matter is fractured. He stares at a cubist painting which depicts various sides of reality in the same viewing, which is what Oppenheimer sees as he considers the totality of existence.

Back at the confirmation hearing, Strauss notes he first met Oppenheimer for a position at Princeton University. He corrects Oppenheimer by saying his name is pronounced “Straws,” another example of Strauss’s wish for proper recognition. He says that no matter the pronunciation, “they know I’m Jewish,” which may accurately stress a reason for his insecurity. (Oppenheimer was also Jewish, although his parents moved away from the religion toward a more secular belief system). Strauss asks why Oppenheimer didn’t recruit Albert Einstein (Tom Conti), who also is at Princeton, for the Manhattan Project which initiated the research to develop the atomic bomb. Oppenheimer says that Einstein was the best scientist of “his time” for his theory of relativity published many years prior. Oppenheimer seems superior in his manner here. When he asks Strauss if he was a physicist the latter says he was a “self-made man,” implying the scientists had an unfair advantage in life. He says he was a shoe salesman. Oppenheimer says the successful Strauss was once a “lowly shoe salesman.” Strauss takes offense at the adjective and corrects by saying, “just a shoe salesman.” Oppenheimer has an unheard conversation at this point with Einstein near a pond on the campus. Afterwards Einstein walks past Strauss as if oblivious of the man being there. Strauss later says to the Congressional Committee that Oppenheimer must have said something which caused Einstein to “sour” his feelings toward Strauss. Also, the fact that Oppenheimer is not jumping at the position offered at Princeton irritates Strauss. All these details about what Straus perceives as slights show how he will eventually undermine Oppenheimer.

Oppenheimer met Isidor Rabi (David Krumholz) in Holland. Rabi is amazed at Oppenheimer’s brilliance because he learned Dutch sufficiently in six weeks to give a lecture in the language. (He also knows German and Sanskrit). They are both New York Jews but are very different. Oppenheimer seems aloof and formal, whereas Rabi knows Yiddish and is down-to-earth. He asks about prejudice against Jews, but Oppenheimer says where he works the scientists are all Jewish, so he didn’t sense bigotry. That statement also shows how Jews were exploited for their intelligence but also were subject to bigotry outside of the academic community. It is interesting that unlike Rabi who is connected to his Jewish New York roots, Oppenheimer takes positions at Cal Tech and Berkeley and there is a place in New Mexico that his brother owns. Oppenheimer is a traveler who seems rootless in his scientific quests except for a longing to return to the United States when away.

He starts out with a class with just Rossi Lomanitz (Josh Zuckerman) and more students then attend the study of quantum mechanics. However, political issues infiltrate the academic world. Ernest Lawrence (Josh Hartnett), working on practical applications such as a particle accelerator, warns Oppenheimer to keep political views, like being against the fascists in Spain, out of the classroom. The flashforward to the investigation into Oppenheimer’s life notes that the FBI had a file on the scientist before he even worked on government projects. Strauss testifies that there was suspicion about Oppenheimer’s left-wing views. Downey said that Nolan saw Strauss as a type of Salieri figure in Amadeus, jealous of someone who was considered a genius, like Mozart.

Oppenheimer, who declares that he is not a communist, talks about the dying of stars at a gathering of communist sympathizers. He says that when a star cools it collapses and the “gravity gets so contracted, it swallows everything.” His description of a black hole could symbolize his own rise and fall from public and private grace. At the party he meets Jean Tatlock (Florence Pugh) who wants him to become engaged more in practical solutions instead of theories, but he resists dogma. They become lovers. She has him read from one of his books which are the words of the Hindu God, Vishnu, who says “and now I am become Death. The destroyer of worlds.” She is having sex with him while he speaks. Dying and sexual climax are joined in often in poetry, and the scene is effective here in that aspect, and how Oppenheimer eventually sees himself in the same light as Vishnu.

The scene switches to a dark, desolate landscape in the howling wind in New Mexico which is a nice follow-up to the apocalyptic vision in the Sanskrit text. Oppenheimer and his brother Frank (Dylan Arnold) camp out. Oppenheimer says that when he was young, he thought that if he could combine physics with New Mexico his life would be good. He reaches that goal at Los Alamos, where his ideal situation also becomes the birthplace of enormous destruction.

Prior to the above time, there was no thinking of developing a bomb. But at Berkeley there is news that the Germans split an atom by bombarding it with neutrons. Oppenheimer says the math doesn’t show it’s possible, but Luis Alvarez, (Alex Wolff) working with Lawrence in the practical engineering department, replicates the German experiment, showing, as Lawrence says, that theory only takes one so far, and it doesn’t always predict reality. The fact that energy is released with fission points to the possibility of making an atomic bomb.

Oppenheimer is trying to live in the world of science along with elements of romance and politics to show some connection with Jean. He is not successful combining these parts of his life. She is unhappy with his lack of attention. He shows up with Alvarez to union meetings and argues with Lawrence about unionizing professors, which brings backlash from the university. On September 1, 1939, he co-publishes an article on black holes, a scientific breakthrough. It is in the theoretical world, divorced from the practical one, where he is most fulfilled.

The Nazis invade countries outside of Germany and the looming possibility of perverting pure science encroaches on Oppenheimer’s life. A quick shift to his interrogation shows that he did not like the communist view of noninvolvement toward the Nazi menace and did not join the Communist Party. He mentions that his wife, Kitty (Emily Blunt), was a communist a long time ago for a period because of her prior marriage. The committee tries to exploit the pasts of himself and those of others he was involved with.

We then shift to his meeting Kitty, and her rejection of the Party because of what to her was the senseless death fighting the fascists in Spain. They become lovers, she becomes pregnant, and both end their prior romantic involvements. But Kitty experiences the same detachment from her new husband as Jean did with her lover. Oppenheimer is not there as a husband or a father as his home is in the world of science.

Lawrence, being the practical one, which fits his engineering application job, warns Oppenheimer that his attachment to unions that are “filled with communists” alienates him from the Federal Government and inhibits his fight against the Germans who may develop an atomic bomb, as Einstein warned. So, Oppenheimer said his association with unions would not interfere with working on a nuclear deterrent to the Nazis. At that time, he was not persecuted, but when the McCarthy era began, his past came back to haunt him.

Strauss later says, “Genius is no guarantee of wisdom. How could this man who saw so much be so blind.” Again, Oppenheimer may see the unseen world, but it obscures his vision of the overt one. He can visualize the chain reaction of atomic particles, but not the cause and effect of his social actions.

However, he shows he can apply his scientific mind to making an atomic bomb before the Nazis developed one. He convinces the dubious head of the Manhattan Project, Major General Leslie Groves (Matt Damon) that he can coordinate the development of a nuclear weapon and run the lab at Los Alamos. (Damon has a small mustache, like the real Groves, but here it reminds one of Hitler’s, and one scientist calls him “Generalissimo,” referencing Spain’s fascistic Franco, so there is authoritarianism present to a degree here, too). Groves tries to question Oppenheimer’s resolve by implying that nobody will receive a Nobel Prize for making a bomb. The scientist wittily responds that Alfred Nobel invented dynamite, which suggests the two sides of the coin that can come from inventions. Groves, however, does try to protect Oppenheimer from persecutions in the future. Oppenheimer knows that Groves can leverage him because of his left-wing past. Oppenheimer says that one thing they have going for them is “antisemitism,” implying the great scientists who are under Nazi rule are Jewish, and that might alienate the scientists and Hiter from each other.

Oppenheimer recruits American scientists, saying the government needs them, but as Alvarez notes wisely, “until they don’t.” We have here Oppenheimer’s dismissal of how politics works. Rabi does not want to join. He sees the bigger picture. He says, “You drop a bomb and it falls on the just and the unjust. I don’t want the culmination of three centuries of physics to be a weapon of mass destruction.” However, the immediacy of the problem wins him over. As Oppenheimer says, they might not be wise in the use of the atomic bomb, but he knows that the Nazis can’t be trusted with it. In this case, Oppenheimer is being realistic about the threat of Nazi world domination.

Edward Teller (Benny Safdie) hypothesizes that the detonation of a nuclear bomb could create a chain reaction that is unstoppable, destroying the world. Oppenheimer consults with Einstein. Einstein says that if widespread destruction is possible, then they must share the findings with the Nazis, because they would not want to obliterate what they want to conquer. After running through theoretical possibilities that world destruction was near zero the practical Groves says, “Zero would be nice,” an understated sarcastic statement given the horrific potential involved.

Another incident that haunts Oppenheimer at the investigation involves his friend, Haakon Chevalier (Jefferson Hall) who wanted the physicist to pass on information about the atomic bomb project to the Russians, who were our allies in WWII. Oppenheimer notes that act would be treason, but he did not report it as a security problem at the time, as he was caught between loyalty to his friend and his country.

The investigation attacks Oppenheimer, as he was warned by fellow scientists would happen. The government used him and when they were done, they went after him because of ties he had with others who were communists at one time. He had another liaison with Jean and Nolan puts in a stylized shot of a naked Oppenheimer making love to her while at the committee hearing which shows us what is going on in Oppenheimer’s mind. A livid Kitty watches as he admits to the one-night-stand. The image suggests that he is being exposed for not realizing how his past would resurface in his future. Later Jean commits suicide and Oppenheimer is plagued by guilt, here on a personal level, and later on a much wider scale.

The film shows several nasty individuals who saw the opportunity to better themselves at Oppenheimer’s expense after the scientist was no longer useful. One is Boris Pash (Casey Affleck) described by Groves as a man who has threatened to kidnap, interrogate, and kill possible allies of Russia. There is Roger Robb (Jason Clarke) who spearheads attacks in the committee questioning Oppenheimer’s loyalty. An example is his asking why Oppenheimer brought his ex-communist brother to Los Alamos, a politically naïve act on the part of the scientist. Another is William Borden (David Dastmalchian) who gets a hold of Oppenheimer’s classified file and accuses the physicist of helping Russia.

Bohr is able to escape to America. He says that Heisenberg is now working with the Nazis, which shows how dangerous the blooming nuclear age will become. Bohr is not there to help but to look beyond the current situation and urges Oppenheimer to use his influence to warn the U. S. Government that the world has moved into a frightening phase. He calls Oppenheimer a Prometheus figure. That image stresses the cause and effect of how discovering powerful tools can be used for terrible reasons. Maybe to convince himself, Oppenheimer repeats what Bohr said to him earlier by now saying, “You can’t lift the stone without being ready for the snake that’s revealed.” Bohr meant it as a warning, but Oppenheimer uses it as a natural consequence for the need to open a Pandora’s Box.

With the hydrogen bomb researched by Teller, there is the possibility, later realized, of a device a thousand times more powerful than an atomic bomb. As the scientists along with Strauss and government official Vannevar Bush (Matthew Modine) argue the need or danger of developing a hydrogen bomb, we get an intense subjective view from Oppenheimer’s perspective. The resounding sound of stomping feet resembling soldiers marching off to war echoes in his ears. He urges restraint in further development of nuclear arms and says that there should be restriction of an arms race with Russia, who has replaced Germany as an enemy. The implication here is that there will always be a foe to justify the further development of weapons. However, metaphorically, he is trying to defuse an explosive after he has already set it to go off.

Back to the Los Alamos lab, Oppenheimer uses a quote from John Donne who said in a sonnet, “Batter my heart, three-personed God.” So, he names the test “Trinity” to see if the A-Bomb will work. The reference is full of contradictions. The poem is a plea by a person who states the only way he can be saved is through force from a supreme being. Oppenheimer’s naming the test suggests that he sees salvation from evil (Nazism) only through submission to a greater power (atomic).

However, the Allies defeated Germany and Hitler was dead. The question is whether it is necessary to drop the fury of atomic bombs on Japan. Oppenheimer, along with Bush and Groves, meet with the Secretary of Defense Henry Stimson (James Remar) concerning this decision. Oppenheimer wants to backtrack now since the Nazis are no longer a threat. Why not show the Japanese the force of the bomb before dropping it? A lame excuse is that it might fail and that will reveal our plans. That would assume that Japan could somehow prepare for an atomic attack, doubtful at best. The military members there and the Secretary talk about the many thousands that will die in abstract terms. Stimson says he took the city of Kyoto off the list because he went there on his honeymoon. He is playing God with innocent lives based on nostalgic memories. A merciless Groves wants to drop two bombs to show the effectiveness of the blast and then to force a surrender. This strategy is based on the nonempirical conclusion that the Japanese will never surrender otherwise.

Nolan takes his time to depict the Trinity test detonation, building suspense by focusing on the different roles of those involved. The furious sound of violins on the soundtrack adds to the tension. Teller only uses a pair of sunglasses and sunblock on his face while he sits outside in a beach chair, as if he is watching for his own amusement a fireworks display. It shows his apocalyptic tendency, which is frightening in its cavalier attitude toward this event. IMDb notes that he resembles Dr. Strangelove, the mad scientist in the Stanley Kubrick film. Nolan does not give the audience the sound of the explosion here, only the fireball looking like a hellish inferno which ends in the dreaded mushroom cloud. The emphasis instead is on the breathing of those that developed this monstrous creation. Afterwards, there is cheering and applause, which is understandable given the intense work over three years to which the large group committed themselves. One who does not feel elated is Rabi, who was reluctant to participate on the project.

After all the intellectually detached scientific work, what they have made is a tangible weapon, and as it rides away on a military transport, the harsh reality of that fact sinks in as Oppenheimer hopes that the terror of the atomic bomb will stop all wars in the future. History has shown that although the far more destructive hydrogen bomb became the nuclear weapon of choice, there has been no use of it so far because of fear. But wars still rage on, and the potential for mass destruction looms over them.

After the bomb is dropped on Hiroshima, we then meet up again with the sound of those stomping feet in celebration now at Los Alamos. Oppenheimer says, “The world will remember this day,” but will it be in celebration or in infamy? That question is what exists inside of Oppenheimer’s mind. The background shakes and he gets a vision of the patriotic cheering of the project’s workers and their families turning into one of melting corpses. Oppenheimer concludes that he has become, like Vishnu, “Death. The destroyer of worlds.”

Oppenheimer meets with President Harry Truman (Gary Oldman) who acts like the Russians will not get the atomic bomb despite Oppenheimer’s belief that an arms race is possible and should be prevented. Oppenheimer wants nothing else to do with developing weapons and says they should give Los Alamos “back to the Indians.” Instead, despite the President’s position about the lack of the Russian nuclear capability, the administration wants to expand the New Mexico town to pursue the making of a hydrogen bomb. When Oppenheimer says that he feels he has blood on his hands, a dismissive Truman gives him a handkerchief as if he should wipe the blood off. He says that the use of nuclear weapons was his choice and its not about Oppenheimer. He then says to an aid to not let that “crybaby” back in his office. Truman here seems callous about the horrific effect of nuclear war and the emotional toll that weighs on those that contributed to it.

Scientists and those associated with Oppenheimer who were against further use of nuclear technology paid the price for their views. Oppenheimer’s brother was blacklisted by all the universities in the country and Lomanitz wound up laying track for the railroad. Chevalier went into exile most likely because of the shift to anticommunism in the United States

But Oppenheimer pushed for arms control instead of pursuing development of the H-Bomb, trying to compensate for that blood on his hands. The movie depicts Oppenheimer as a conflicted man, trying to navigate the morality of helping to create monstrous weapons for the immediate Nazi problem while at the same time advising against their construction in the future.

Strauss tells Oppenheimer that Klaus Fuchs (Christopher Denham), a scientist at Los Alamos, was providing information to the Soviets. Once there was confirmation of a spy at the test site, the FBI stepped up surveillance on Oppenheimer. The view here is that people can become guilty by association, not by fact.

Some of those government officials who supported Oppenheimer now try to bury him in the public view. Secretary of Defense Stimson now says the bomb was developed for an enemy that was already defeated. Strauss uses the press to step up his positive publicity by sending out the message through a reporter that Strauss fought Oppenheimer and America “won.” It turns out Borden, who lies when he says he had no contact with anyone from the AEC, received Oppenheimer’s private personnel file from the inferiority-complex-ridden AEC ranking member Strauss, who devised the way the scientist would be ruined. Borden, in a letter to J. Edgar Hoover, accused Oppenheimer of being a Russian undercover agent. Strauss didn’t want to give Oppenheimer a platform to be a “martyr.” He wanted a closed hearing in a small office, with no burden of proof needed to be established and no discovery of evidence for the defense, since the committee is not charging the physicist with a crime. The committee revokes Oppenheimer’s secret clearance, thus labeling him as a threat to United States security. Kitty knows it is Strauss behind the conspiracy, labeling him as being vindictive for perceived slights, and admonishes her husband justly for not fighting enough. He even shook Teller’s hand after Teller said he thought Oppenheimer was not a good security risk. All the while, Strauss, the proverbial snake in the grass, acts like he is helping Oppenheimer navigate the attack Strauss devised.

At Strauss’s Senate confirmation hearing regarding his nomination as Commerce Secretary, he is concerned he will be tainted by his connection to Oppenheimer. He makes sure he lets the Senate know that he disagreed with Oppenheimer about letting President Truman know about the possibility of a hydrogen bomb. Strauss also says that the Russians wouldn’t have known how to make an atomic bomb if there wasn’t a spy at Los Alamos, another attack on Oppenheimer because the physicist was the leader at Los Alamos.

However, Dr. David Hill (Rami Malek) testifies that American scientists, who rally around Oppenheimer, would like Strauss not hold any government position. He says that Strauss led the attack against Oppenheimer when the latter opposed the sale of isotopes to Norway in a manner that seemed to humiliate Strauss. Hill reveals that it was Strauss who had the hatchet man Robb appointed as the interrogating attorney. The confirmation hearing on Strauss ironically becomes the same type of defamation panel that Strauss concocted for Oppenheimer, with no burden of truth needed and no official trial administered. When Strauss thought that Oppenheimer said something negative about him to Einstein the truth was that they were not even talking about Strauss. The film implies that a person like Strauss who thinks everything going on is about them is very selfish in their insecurity. The Senate denies Strauss’s confirmation, with Senator John F. Kennedy being one of the deciding votes against Strauss.

The film ends as it began with that conversation by the pond with Einstein. He was telling Oppenheimer that government officials persecute you for their own guilt and years later give you an award to ease their consciences. We get a flash-forward of that scene as Oppenheimer, now an old man, receiving in 1963 the Enrico Fermi Award from President Lyndon Johnson. What shook Einstein into silence at the pond and his ignoring of Strauss was that Oppenheimer said to him that they had put into motion the chain reaction that would cause the inevitable destruction of the world.

The Lion in Winter

 SPOILER ALERT! The plot will be discussed.

I enjoy good dialogue and there is plenty of it in The Lion in Winter (1968). James Goldman wrote the screenplay based on his play (and won a writing Oscar). The writing reveals the characters’ personalities while it entertains with its wit and ferociousness. In a way the movie is a medieval version of Who’s Afraid of Virginia Wolfe. The main desire here is ambition and power, and the hope of the royal offspring for acknowledgment. But also for the king and his wife it’s a game to keep them engaged in life in defiance of aging.

The titles are displayed with stone carvings of historical visages which suggest the iconic nature of these bigger-than-life people. Peter O’Toole reprises his role of King Henry II of England, an older version of the ruler he played in Becket which depicted the royal’s relationship with Richard Burton’s archbishop. He was nominated for an Oscar for Best Actor in both films, although I consider this performance the best in a distinguished career. The opening scene has Henry still strong enough to swordfight in his “winter” years as he says, “Come for me!” He is testing one of his sons, John (Nigel Terry), to see if he is worthy of the crown.

Henry wants his kingdom, and therefore his legacy, to last. He tells Alais (Jane Merrow), his young lover, that he doesn’t want to go the way of King Lear who divided his lands between three children and weakened the kingdom. In the twelfth century, the people thought the King was the closest individual to God. Thus, who held the position was of extreme importance. Unfortunately, in this story, the candidates are seriously flawed.

Henry flatters for the moment whoever he wants to win over and disdains those he wishes to lord over. He wants to reassure Alais by saying he has bedded many, including “countesses,” “whores,” “and little boys,” but he only loves her. He dismisses his queen, Eleanor of Aquitaine (Katharine Hepburn, tying with Barbra Streisand for the Best Actress Oscar for that year), calling her “the gorgon,” who is “decaying” where he “dungeons” her and only releases Eleanor on holidays. She is a threat to his wishes, but as we see a threat he respects.

We meet Richard, who we know as “the Lion-Hearted,” in the form of Anthony Hopkins (in his feature film debut). This son, too, is introduced in combat games as he jousts. He knocks a foe off his horse and appears to be ready to kill him with his sword until interrupted. Richard’s face appears in turmoil, as he struggles with his bloodlust.

The film introduces son Geoffrey (Johns Castle) also engaging in battle, but not personally. He does not physically partake in combat, but he instead directs troops in war games. The scene shows Geoffrey to be intellectual, aloof, seeing others do the fighting for him.

Alais reassures Henry after a bout of lovemaking that he will endure the day’s obstacles because he is like the rocks at Stonehenge, and that “nothing knocks” him down. The reference recalls the stone figures displayed with the credits, suggesting the king’s almost mythical strength.

Eleanor wants Richard to be king, and Henry wants John. But their only motives may be that they want to fight each other as opposed to believing their selections are the best ones. John is an adolescent who according to Alais has pimples and smells. He runs around like a child at play or in fear. Henry is willing to have Alais marry John for her dowry while she will remain his mistress. It seems the powerful are exempt from rules of morality. Along with the children, Alais wants some recognition, saying she could be a threat to Henry if she discloses what he wants. He dismisses her importance after previously saying how she is the only thing he ever loved. He brandishes his power, telling her that whatever he says, goes, and that includes him saying they are through or that she is to marry John.

Henry says to Alais that there may have been an “era” when he adored Eleanor. The word evokes a person whose life is attached to the ages. In contrast to that sense of grandeur, Henry moves one hair on her ahead that is askew, saying “nothing in life has any business being perfect.” There is a cynical feel to Henry sometimes, as if life is not what it’s cracked up to be.

John talks like a child, saying daddy loves me best, while Richard declares that he will be the next sovereign. Henry says to Alais he has no problem with his boys plotting against him, because it’s politics, which is a skill necessary to lead. He says, “I’ve plotted all my life. There’s no other way to be alive, king, and fifty all at once.” There is that harsh reality that Henry acknowledges about the world of rulers.

When Eleanor arrives by boat, the first thing Henry asks is whether the water parted for her. She said she told it to stay flat. They revel in the majestic nature of their positions. They smile at each other as they banter, with her sarcastically saying how he keeps her young because he lets her out for the Christmas holidays, like a schoolgirl. She is frank in her language and blunt when she tells her sons that despite her superior position, her destiny as a woman came down to what gender babies she produced. If she had not produced only girls with her first husband, she would still be queen of France and never would have met these sons. “Such, my angels, is the role of sex in history,” she says.

Eleanor says she raised Alais so she has mixed feelings about her. Richard calls her the “whore,” and yet he wants her as his queen as does John. Politics and power reign, not love. Henry jokingly says he and Eleanor will fight “tusk to tusk for eternity.” He relishes the family fight, and there is the feeling that they believe they are beyond earthly constraints and will live forever.

King Philip (Timothy Dalton) is a young monarch, and Henry attempts to bully him about treaties, but the French leader holds his own in their initial meeting. Alais is Philip’s half-sister and the daughter of the previous king of France, Eleanor’s first husband, Louis. He had promised Alais to Henry’s heir to the throne. Philip wants that to happen so that France will have influence in England. Otherwise, Philip wants the area known as Vexin, which was Alais’s dowery, forfeited. Henry says he already occupies the land, so he owns it. But as he reveals to Eleanor later he does not want another war, and enjoys the actions of a peaceful king.

Richard has possession of the precious Aquitaine region and refuses to yield anything to John who he calls “that walking pustule.” John appears hunched over and decrepit, so Richard’s assessment of him is understandable.

Geoffrey says he will be John’s chancellor, which is a powerful position. He positions himself for that job because Geoffrey says, “no one thinks of the crown and thinks of Geoff.” He adds, “It’s not the power I feel deprived of; it’s the mention I miss. There’s no affection for me here; you wouldn’t think I’d want that, would you?” Geoffrey knows his place in his parents’ feelings, but he resents that he is not accepted by them. Thus, he must be content with being the power behind a week person sitting on the throne. So, John is his best choice to be king.

Eleanor says to Alais she prefers her to her boys, but it is just a setup to then remind her that Henry chose Alais and her land over his previous lover. The implication is that he will have no problem discarding her for his own purposes. She then says she wouldn’t hurt Alais, after she just did, and Alais understands how unscrupulous Eleanor is.

Henry and Eleanor rotate words of affection and attacks with whiplash speed. He asks how she is doing but then says he will never set her free since she led several civil wars against him. He also dismisses Alais as just an old man’s dalliance, while before he told the young woman he loved her. She says she does like seeing him again. Their respect for each other comes through here, as she says he is still “a marvel of a man,” and he says, “and you’re my lady.”

On the surface they go to dinner smiling, hand-in-hand, as they walk among the many guests. Eleanor says she will have Richard become king and cares about that because Henry cares who will succeed him. She readily admits it is just to vex him that she disagrees. He says he wants some peace, and she offers, “eternal peace,” a not-so-subtle death threat. When he says he will strike her any way he can there are dogs barking and growling in the background to stress the savagery behind his threat, and she looks worried. She asks if he ever loved her and he says no, another reversal of affections. She says it will make their fighting easier, but her asking implies that she feels hurt.

Eleanor asks Richard to see her. She says she hopes for a reunion since they have been apart. But she calls him “dull,” and when she states that his violence on the battlefield agrees with him, it is not a compliment. He doesn’t trust her, thinking he she might try to ambush him. He has the Aquitaine, but believes she wants it back. He says she’s “so deceitful,” that she “can’t ask for water” when she’s “thirsty.” She would lie even if her life was at stake. He goes on to say, “We can tangle spiders in the webs you weave.” Now that is a witty way of saying his mother can trap even those that are skillful in laying their own traps.

Henry says he is willing to give in to letting Richard be king because his son would fight him for it anyway, and at least England would stay unified. John, of course, feels betrayed.

Eleanor is always suspicious of her husband and says that the “second coming” will occur before Henry gives up on John and lets Richard marry Alais. Geoffrey has no loyalty to anyone but himself, so he quickly says he will help Eleanor if he becomes Richard’s chancellor by manipulating John. She sees his cruel selfish nature, and he acknowledges that he would sell them all out if he found a way. Geoffrey shows that Henry is right when he said that “power” is the only fact to face in the world as it is the preoccupation of all heads of state, then and now.

In another talk with Richard, Eleanor says she just wants to see him be king, but he says that all she wants is to get vengeance on Henry for locking her up, and he does not want to be used for that purpose. She goads him by saying how Henry was superior to Richard at an earlier age. She recalls when Henry was eighteen he had, “a mind like Aristotle’s and a form like mortal sin. We shattered the Commandments on the spot.”  This daunting description again shows how the two envision themselves as grander than others. It also emphasizes Eleanor’s earthiness, which is noted when she says she rode “bare-breasted” while on one of the Crusades. After being pushed, she admits that what she really wants is the Aquitaine back, and Richard believes it because it is power she wants. She says she wants it only because she can use it to bargain with Henry. When she says she loves Richard, he is cold, saying, “You love nothing. You’re incomplete. The human parts of you are missing. You’re as dead as you are deadly.” His zombie-like description of her has truth in it, but we have seen varying emotions in her. She cuts herself on the arm and he melts, as she reminds him of pleasant memories when he was a child. Is she sincere about her affections? Maybe, at least in the moment.

                                    

The following scenes are labyrinthine in the moves and counter moves, as all the principles jockey for position. It’s not an accident that there is a chessboard with pieces on display. Philip, Geoffrey, and John plot a war against Richard and Eleanor to make John king. Eleanor tells Henry that perhaps Richard would not believe Henry’s offer to make him king. His witty response is, “There’s no sense in asking if the air is good if there’s nothing else to breathe.” Henry’s impression of his absolute power is evident here. He wants the Aquitaine for John, and she refuses. She says she’s like the earth, “There’s no way around me.” She refuses to bow under Henry’s threats. She knows she can still inflict emotional pain on him when she says she slept with Thomas Becket. When he shudders, she admits it’s a lie, but she can see she can hurt him. She even suggests that she may have slept with Henry’s father. He offers her freedom after ten years of imprisonment if she releases the Aquitaine to John. She counters with only if Richard and Alais marry immediately. Again, there are dogs barking and growling to mimic the bestial nature of these attacks on each other.

Henry acts as if he goes along with the marriage despite Alais’s protests. She has already expressed her disgust at being used as a pawn and doubts Henry’s stating he loves her. When they are at the altar, Henry lets out that he will get the Aquitaine so that Richard will hear it and refuse to go forward with the wedding. Philip may be young, but he realized Henry’s ploy to torpedo the wedding. John is back in the picture again as a possible king. And the scheming goes round and round.

Henry says he enjoys being king as he plays with the ambitions and emotions of others. It is sadistic. Eleanor takes on the role of masochist as she asks to see Henry kiss Alais. She says it’s an intellectual exercise because she imagines it and wants to see how reality fits her imagination. However, when she witnesses the act, she shakes, and her eyes become moist. Her sense of loss is palpable.

She feels defeated and resigned to going back to her jail. Her sons visit her. Cold Geoffrey is probably that way because, as he says, he only remembers indifference from his parents. Eleanor admits that at times they did not like any of the children, which explains the young men’s insecurity. There is sibling rivalry between John and Richard to the point that Richard draws a knife. Eleanor says they all have knives. Despite the current times (1183), “we’re barbarians … We are the killers. We breed wars. We carry it like syphilis inside ... For the love of God, can’t we love one another, just a little. That’s how peace begins … We could change the world.” Her words are timeless, as she lays all crimes of violence at the feet of leaders who rule countries and members of families who feud with each other.

John blurts out that he must see Philip because they had an alliance to wage war against Henry and Richard and he must stop Henry from hearing about it to stay in the king’s favor. Eleanor, feeling revived as she sees an opening to get what she wants, tells Richard to promise Philip “anything.” Her insinuation reveals that she probably knows of Richard’s homosexual involvement with Philip in the past.

An almost absurd scene follows in Philip’s chambers as all the males maneuver for political position. John, hiding, hears Geoffrey plot against everyone else with Philip. John’s dullness can be seen as he says to Geoffrey, “You’re a stinker, and you stink.” Whereas the more eloquent insult from Geoffrey is, “If you’re a prince, there’s a hope for every ape in Africa.” Richard arrives as the other two brothers hide. Richard wants Philip’s military backing to gain the throne. The conversation reveals what Eleanor hinted at, and the affection that Richard has for Philip under his bluster is evident. As Philip said, tapestries are for hiding, so Richard now hides as Henry shows up. Henry discovers Philip’s plans of pitting Henry’s children against him. Philip tells Henry about suffering Richard’s advances and allowing Richard to believe he loved him so he could lord it over Henry. The sons come out of hiding, and Richard is embarrassed and emotional for a change as he said he would have been loyal to Henry if his father had shown some affection for him. John’s willingness to wage war against Henry hurts the monarch, but John says Henry never loved anybody. Geoffrey says he’s all that’s left to choose from to be king, but he is loyal only to his own ambitions. Henry and Eleanor’s desire to control and adopt power plays left their sons warped in emotional deprivation.

Henry is shaken by the nature of his boys and denies them all. He says he married a woman “out of legend,” still showing his admiration for Eleanor. But he says he had no “sons,” and says his children are gone.

A meeting between Eleanor and Alais contrasts them and yet shows their mixed feelings for each other. Eleanor says she may have loved Henry “before the flood,” referencing Genesis, adding to her perception of a connection to ancient and biblical times. She doesn’t like that Alais would sit next to Henry because that is her place. Alais says that Eleanor loves the kingdom whereas she just loves Henry. She says her gift for Christmas would be for Eleanor to suffer. But then they embrace, since Eleanor and she were close for many years.

Henry enters and dismisses Alais. Eleanor is tired and says she just wants things over. She says she will sign her lands over to John, but Henry just applauds her, assuming it’s a performance. They have been so devious with each other they can’t even tell what’s true, He says that he doesn’t want her to sign anything. He delights in manipulating her and finally reveals that he will go to Rome for an annulment so he can marry Alais and she can give him more sons, the current ones being defective. He says Geoffrey is “a device. He’s wheels and gears.” John cheats, lies, frequents whores, and whips servants. She blames him for John, and he blames her for keeping Richard to herself and denying him complete development. They continue to spar as she says, “I adored you. I still do.” He says that’s the most terrible lie of all. She says she knows, “That’s why I saved it up until now.”

They momentarily relish the dynamic between them, hug, reminisce, and kiss. However, they can’t help themselves; they must keep battling. She says there will be no annulment because she will not let Henry go. He says there is no connection between them, no meetings, gifts, or communications. What she really wants still is Richard to become king, and she just has to wait as he grows old and feeble for it to happen. If a son is born to him, she’ll push Richard through “the nursery door,” to kill his “grotesque” offspring. She does not consider that scenario cruel after all that he has put her through. She says, “I could peel you like a pear and God himself would call it justice!”

As Henry is ready to storm off to Rome for an annulment from the Pope, Eleanor says that his sons will join with her and Philip to defeat him when the boys know his plan to marry and have more sons. He counters by saying he will lock them all up. She torments him by describing having had sex with his father. After he runs out, she says, in contrast to the previous exalted dialogue, “Well, what family doesn’t have its ups and downs.” It’s an ironic statement considering how we have been dealing with kings, princes, and a queen. Hardly a pedestrian bunch.

Henry imprisons the boys and convenes an entourage to take him and Alais to Rome for an annulment and a wedding. She wisely notes that he must keep the sons imprisoned or else they will revolt. And if Henry dies and they get out they will kill the new offspring. Eleanor bribes a knight so she can give the captives knives to escape. Geoffrey thinks the best move is to kill Henry, which horrifies Eleanor. She tells Richard it’s “unnatural” to be an assassin. He counters with the nihilistic view that exists in the story by saying, “If poisoned mushrooms grow and babies come with crooked backs, if goiters thrive and dogs go mad and wives kill husbands, what’s unnatural?” She says she is not responsible for what he has become, but he points out she was his role model.

Henry shows up in the wine cellar and when Richard grabs one of the knives, Henry tosses the other knives to John and Geoffrey. Henry now echoes what were the first lines of the film, “Come for me!” It is not just practice now, but it can be a test. Geoffrey doesn’t have the stomach for it. Richard has difficulty initiating the attack against the reigning king. John lunges for Henry, who sidesteps him and puts a knife to his throat. Eleanor surprises by calling Henry’s bluff. She says they are assassins and traitors so he should execute them. Henry slams the flat part of his sword onto Richard’s shoulder and finds that he cannot kill his own children.

He says he’s lost everything and blames Eleanor. She is unsympathetic to his complaints. She tells him to take responsibility. “If you break it’s because you are brittle,” she says. She has truly lost, she says, because she can’t have him back. She says she wants to die, and he comforts her. She says there is no hope in life, but he counters by saying they are alive and that is what hope is, a kind of reduction of the cliché, “Where there’s life, there’s hope.” She says that they are “Jungle creatures.” Despite their intelligence, they figuratively claw and bite to survive.

He accompanies her to her boat, and she asks if she can come back at Easter. He says, “Come the resurrection, you can strike me down again.” They look forward to their political and personal jousts. He says as she sails away that he hopes they never die, and she feels the same. He says, “Do you think there’s any chance of it?” The two historical battlers laugh as they part, contemplating immortality again. And right they are, since they live on in texts and stories.

Matewan

SPOILER ALERT! The plot will be discussed.

Matewan, like Norma Rae (discussed earlier on this blog), is a well-crafted pro-labor movie. (If you want an anti-union corruption masterpiece, watch On the Waterfront, also analyzed here). This 1987 film from writer/director John Sayles (Eight Men Out) takes place in 1920 in Matewan, West Virginia. It starts in the dark mines with the coal dust smeared on a worker who coughs and has trouble breathing, showing the toll the job inflicts on its workers, as he digs a hole for a dynamite blast. The word gets passed around the men in the mine that the company is reducing their pay. The explosion that follows is a metaphorical one, too, since it reflects the angry and dangerous confrontation between management and labor that ensues.

 There is little gray area in this story, as the union is shown as good and the company is the villain. An aged voice narrates saying that the workers were trying to bring in the union while the Stone Mountain Coal Company and their armed thugs tried to stop any organized labor movement from forming. There then is a shot of the workers exiting the mine, giving the finger to men with rifles who look down on them from above, suggesting how the powerful control the more defenseless members of the workforce. 

The men go home to their impoverished log cabin houses at the end of the day. The narrator says the company didn’t care about the workers and paid only by the ton, and had total control without any negotiation as to how much they assigned as payment. The first song played tells how jobs are handed down from father to son throughout generations, since in areas such as this one, mining basically is the only job available. A civil war is about to take place here again, only this time over a different type of slavery, as the workers start to strike.

The actors nail the dialects in this film and the set design is realistic. Joe Kenehan (Chris Cooper) is the union representative who arrives on the train along with black workers who do not know the company brought them in as “scabs” to break any chance of the strike succeeding. Few Clothes Johnson (James Earl Jones) is one of these African American workers and wonders why the train didn’t stop in town. He gets his answer as local coal workers show up and start to attack the new arrivals. The coal company thus pits worker against worker and stokes racial anger between whites and African Americans. The black workers get back on the train to escape getting beaten further. 

A representative of the company tells the black workers that the tools used for mining are lent to them, and their use will be deducted from their pay, which shows the level of exploitation that exists here. In addition to that cost, sharpening the tools, and the use of “the wash house” to get cleaned come with a charge, along with medical costs, housing, and utilities. They are paid in “script” so they receive no money to be used independently. They must make all their purchases at the company store. Thus, whatever they earn goes right back to the employer. The goal is to make the employees so poor they have no choice but to continue toiling to survive. Johnson raises a legitimate question as to what can stop the company from continually raising the cost of items to be bought. The company man doesn’t answer the question, and quickly sees Johnson as an agitator, asking his name most likely to identify him as a business risk. 

Mrs. Elma Radnor (Mary McDonnell) runs a boarding house where Joe wishes to stay. Her son, Danny (Will Oldham) and his friend, Hillard Elkins (Jace Alexander) show up, and Hillard has a broken nose which he sustained in the fight with the black workers. Joe says he’s seen his share of broken noses and asks for ice to close the blood vessels to stop the bleeding. Joe does not want to divulge his labor affiliation right away because he knows that it can generate hostility. Elma comments on how there is a male propensity toward negligent violence when she says that the men just want to get their “licks” in while the women and children starve. Joe suggests lenience as he says that the violence comes from frustration, implying the burdensome way they are treated causes anger. 

Joe talks at dinner about his past jobs, working on a railway line and at a lumber camp. Danny, who is only fifteen years old, says proudly that before the strike he was a miner despite his age, pointing out the sad fact that there are those even younger suffering in the mines. He notes that the company will never let a union man near the mines, so Joe’s trepidation is warranted. Danny comes off as an intelligent, articulate young man, who also preaches at local churches. Joe admits that he never was a religious type (maybe because he has seen too much injustice and suffering?) Yet, this film has many religious references in it.

Sephus Purcell (Ken Jenkins) takes Joe to see C. E. Lively (Bob Gunton). The meeting takes place at night, covertly, to shield them from the company’s wrath. Lively answers his door with a gun in his hand to show how dangerous being involved in union business is. The two men test Joe on his knowledge of union member history to verify that he is the representative the union sent them. The questions center on men who were treated violently for their union activity, which stresses the danger of trying to fight big business. Workers are inside Lively’s place and they tell of the horrible conditions that exist, and how the company makes them work under dangerous circumstances. Also, the wages decrease the same day that the prices at the store go up, which multiplies their misery.

While the workers voice their grievances, there is an evangelical church service also taking place. The shifting between the two meetings contrasts the practical and religious aspects of life here. The devout Danny, along with Elma, hear the preacher (the director, Sayles) saying that the devilish Beelzebub is among them. He is “the Lord of the Flies” (which sounds like a reference to the insect, but originally meant he was head of “the flyers” because the demons could fly. But the infestation slant makes it more ominous, as William Golding’s novel proves). The preacher says Bolsheviks, socialists and the union are in service to Beelzebub. The look on Danny’s face shows his traditional religious enthusiasm turning into disappointment as the sermon condemns what he believes to be positive forces. 

Back at the meeting, the men complain about the scabs, as the company’s desire to promote racial friction is working. The men there use the “n” word and voice an ethnic slur to refer to the Italians who the coal bosses also bought there. Lively wants to escalate the violence, advocating the use of weapons and explosives. Johnson heard of the meeting and shows up. He says he is no scab, just a miner like them, who works just as hard and wants the same wages. Joe, the man who is not religious, plays the role of secular preacher. He tries to diffuse the infighting by stressing the meaning of being a union member. He says it means that instead of seeing blacks or foreigners as enemies, which is what the company wants, Joe says there are only two sides, those “that work, and them that don’t.” The miners work, and those running the company don’t, and he stresses that they, despite their being different by race and ethnicity, must unite against those that profit from their labor. Joe is a good speaker, and compliments the men there by saying they are brave and would shoot it out if they had to. But, he argues that since the company, the state and the Federal Government are against the union, those entities are looking for any reason to come in with all their force to shut the workers down. He uses a metaphor they all know, which is dynamite, and says that if they light that fuse, their attempts at getting fair working conditions will explode in their faces. He says they have to work methodically to gain support so that all the workers walk off the job to show that no coal will be mined without certain demands being met. As if pointing these men toward a future diverse culture, he says they have “to get used” to a union that includes blacks and those from other cultural backgrounds. 

There is a shift again back to the church. Danny now stands in front of the preacher and the Christian cross as he symbolically puts them behind him, as he uses a parable about workers which ends with “the first will be last and the last will be first.” But he ends by saying that Jesus didn’t know about unions and would have advocated for decent treatment for all to ease suffering on earth. Danny’s sermon uses Jesus’s story to fit the plight of the workers in Matewan since they must suffer first to win subsequent rewards. From that point of view, Joe’s mission is biblical. In the meantime, Joe tries to get the Italian workers on board to join the union. Their leader, Fausto (Joe Grifasi), sees it as a no-win situation for the immigrants, saying if they don’t work, the company will shoot them, and if they do, the union will do the same. Outside, a guard patrols the area with a rifle, highlighting the incendiary atmosphere, the powder keg ready to explode. But, in contrast, a couple of white workers enjoy themselves by playing some music on a fiddle and guitar on one porch, as does a black laborer with his harmonica at another house. They listen to each other’s music and the metaphor of working in harmony is introduced. 

Chief of Police Sid Hatfield (David Strathairn) waits for the returning Joe, suspicious of the man’s late night talks with others. He warns him that Joe is a “dead man” if he brings danger to the people of the town. As we discover, Hatfield is a complex character who is not the company’s man. Speaking of company men, Hickey (Kevin Tighe) and Tom Griggs (Gordon Clapp) arrive on the train. They are agents from the Baldwin-Felts Detective Agency who were contracted by Stone Mountain to do the company's dirty work. The bad guys in this film show no sense of decency. Hickey has a pleasant appearance but he is the proverbial wolf in sheep’s clothing. He talks to Bridey Mae (Nancy Mette), a widow whose husband died in the mines. She spends her time sitting on the train platform, symbolically caught between leaving and staying, possibly having turned into a prostitute, apparently hoping that she will meet a man to rescue her from her life of loss (perhaps her first name shows what she hopes for again). Hickey charms her so he can find out if Joe has arrived. He says she is pretty, and asks Griggs, who looks as cheerful as the Grim Reaper, if he agrees. Griggs couldn’t care less about the inhabitants and says nothing. Hickey shows condescension, and nastiness, when he says that Bridey Mae is the “best looking mountain trash” he’s seen in a while. He then calls the town a “shithole” which reveals how he detests the poverty that people like his clients have created.

Elma is hanging clothes as these people must continually work. She tells Joe how she, and others, lost their husbands in a mine explosion. She says coal dust lingers in the air and a spark can set off an explosion. Deaths can be prevented if the walls of the mines are sprayed, but the company says it costs too much money to spend time performing this action. The film is telling us that to the company monetary cost is more important than the worth of human lives. She is sorrowful as she says now Danny is in those same mines that ended his father’s life. But, she is afraid of Joe’s recruiting her son into organized labor. She says Joe will just move on but the people there have to live with the results of his actions. He argues that he will leave behind a union, which suggests that what he does will work to protect the workers after he is gone. His vision is for the long haul, but he also asks for individual sacrifice. But unlike the company, his goal is for the welfare of the many. 

Hickey and Griggs want to stay at the boarding house, but Elma tells the men that they have only one room. The aggressive Hickey says that someone will have to move out. Griggs follows his partner’s statement by saying that they were sent by the company which owns the building, so what they say goes. Unlike the words that are supposed to guide Spiderman, there is no responsibility that comes with power here, only bullying. Joe mitigates the situation by saying he has to move to the hotel anyway, and Elma, grateful for Joe’s unselfishness, tells the very reluctant Danny to sign the men in. Even though they get their rooms, Griggs says that the company will hear “about this,” implying that any resistance to the will of those in charge invites retribution. Joe understands the reality of the situation, even though he is unhappy about it, as he says to Elma, “sometimes you got’s to bends so’s you don’t break.”  In a way, Joe’s attempts at maintaining peace and his sacrifices are Christlike, even though he doesn’t attend church. 

Johnson teaches one of the inexperienced Italian workers where to place support posts in a mine. The African American worker puts safety first, unlike his employer, and also demonstrates his willingness to work together. Back with his fellow workers, Johnson hears the men complain that they can’t leave because they are indebted to the company upfront and if they don’t work to pay what they owe they will be considered thieves. They realize that this system is a form of enslavement, which they unfortunately know much about.

Hickey and Griggs are evicting a family because the worker is involved in union activity. The mayor, Cabell Testerman (Josh Mostel), says that the men have no jurisdiction off of Stone Mountain land. But, Hickey tells him that the house belongs to the coal company, so that gives them the right. Here is where we see the police chief, Hatfield, showing how he cares about the citizens, regardless of union or business affiliation. He says that Hickey needs a writ of eviction. Hatfield shows his disdain for Hickey’s slimy boss, Felts, by saying he “wouldn’t pee on him if his heart was on fire.” A person has to be pretty repulsive if he isn’t even worth one’s urine. Hatfield says if Hickey or Griggs bother people under his jurisdiction, he’ll arrest the two men. Hickey challenges him by saying with what “army” will Hatfield be able to stop them. Hatfield doesn't back down, and smartly gets his army when he tells all the workers present to get their guns because they are now police deputies. The movie is showing that sometimes strength must be met with strength if protection under the law is to work. Hatfield orders the family’s things be put back, while he rests his hand on his pistol for emphasis. Although Hickey agrees, he persists in challenging the man by saying Hatfield can't win this fight. Joe, impressed, and realizing the law in this town is not a foe, tells Hatfield he’s never seen a law officer stand up to a company’s hired thugs. His statement indicates that most of the time workers would lose the fight for decent wages and working conditions.

Joe’s attempt to prevent the local white workers from confronting the blacks and Italians fails as the vote is unanimous to stop the “scabs.”  Back at Elma’s boarding house, Hickey is bossy with Danny at the dinner table. When the boy refuses to pass him food, Griggs is demeaning after finding out Danny is a preacher, and says the young man just preaches to squirrels. When Danny stands up in anger, Griggs pulls out a gun and threatens the youth. Elma intervenes telling Danny to sit down, but he still refuses to cooperate and runs out of the house. Hickey warns Elma that she can either have things the “easy way” or “the hard way.” So corrupted are these men by the “might makes right” belief, they even are willing to threaten violence over whether or not some peas are passed around the table.

Joe tells Sephus that he hoped to stop the aggression toward the blacks and Italians, but Lively says there was a vote and that’s the end of it. Lively’s interest in inciting violence comes out later. (There is a shot of Lively ironically in front of a religious depiction considering his very non-spiritual intents). Danny arrives stating that the company is trying to sneak in a night shift for the newly arrived workers. The local men go to the mines ready to use force. But, Johnson, with the white workers behind him, and the company men armed with a machine gun in front of him, shows courage and sense by throwing the rented shovel down and telling the company representative that the tool belongs to them. The other blacks and Italians also throw down their shovels. Joe is jubilant, and tells the local workers to welcome their new “brothers’ into the union, saying no coal is moved without a union man moving it. Cooperation in numbers that addresses the needs of all is what the union is advocating.

Since the union did not have many resources, they couldn’t help financially or with manpower or influence to aid those on strike. The workers chip in to help each other, including Elma, who arrives with bags of stolen company food. She insists that even though she is willing to help she tells Joe he can’t win, so much are the odds against these pioneers fighting for their rights. A superstitious local woman, Mrs. Elkins (Jo Henderson) covers her face when looking in the direction of an Italian mother, Rosaria (Maggie Renzi), who has a statue of Mary, the mother of Jesus, with her, another example of the importance of religion in the lives of the residents. Elkins says Rosaria was giving her the “evil eye,” which demonstrates the prejudices that must be overcome for the various working groups to move forward together. Nevertheless, Danny says that he never saw everybody together like this before, and claims the company doesn’t “have a chance.” He brings his evangelical enthusiasm and optimism to the scene due to the promise of cooperation. But, the reality of the situation will emerge showing the difficulty of the fight which will alter his positive feelings.

Hatfield enters the store run by the mayor. Hickey and Griggs are sitting at a counter having drinks, and Hickey makes them an offer they can refuse, trying to bribe them. The mayor says the “the town can’t be bought.” Hickey only sees what is corrupt in people because he sold his soul, if there ever was on, quite a while back. So, he assumes that Hatfield’s stand concerning the evicted man was just a show for more bargaining power. Hatfield shows his morality when he says that he will lock up both men if they try anything to harm the citizens inside the town limits. Griggs reveals again the condescension the outsiders have for the locals when he says the “hillbillies” always have to do things the “hard way” (these guys like that phrase). In a way, he is unwittingly complementing these people for their resolve to do what is right. Hickey smiles and smiles, though he is a villain (apologies to Shakespeare). But then he drops the facade and shows his meanness when he says to the town’s leaders, “Don’t push your luck.” After the two men leave, the mayor asks Hatfield if Hickey and Griggs were bluffing. Hatfield shows the lines of battle have been drawn when he answers, “Nope. Neither am I.”

Joe tries to explain that the union relief fund is stretched thin, and there has to be an evaluation as to which effort gets how much based on need. The workers fear that they won’t get anything if the union decides they can’t win. But Lively says it’s politics, and they have to realize that. He seems to be saying that the men just have to deal with the reality of the situation, but he does not offer comfort to the financially strapped families. Meanwhile, the music metaphor continues as an Italian playing his mandolin joins the two local men who are again using their fiddle and guitar, while the African American plays his harmonica in the background. The story again stresses that unity brings harmony among people. The scene jumps back to Joe trying to calm the anxiety of the workers who question Joe’s argument that the union is a democracy, like the United States, since they feel that the republic has let them down. The alert Johnson hears something and tells everyone to get down as bullets fly through the tent where the meeting is taking place. As Hatfield said, the threat was no bluff.

Nobody was killed, but some were wounded, and Elma places blame on Joe. He doesn’t refute her, most likely because he knows that weighing sacrifice against rewards is not an easy task. She tends to the wound of one of the black men, and reassures him that when a doctor gets there they will treat black people, too. It is a horrible fact that at this time an African American might not receive medical attention because of his race. 

Mrs. Elkins and Rosaria are at it again, arguing over the safety of the meals they are preparing. Joe circulates through the crowd, seeking out any witnesses who may have seen who the shooters were. As he comes across the contentious women, he tries to make Elkins show understanding about how some people have different ways of doing things. To use the music metaphor, he is trying to create harmony out of discordance. Their differences are put on hold when Rosaria hears a train and assumes soldiers are coming to kill them. Elkins wonders where the men are. It turns out they are in a clandestine meeting where Lively undermines the union, saying it isn’t helping. He continues to advocate confrontation and he has an ally in Sephus. Fausto wants to stick with Joe’s plan, and Johnson knows there will be “hell to pay” if the blacks start shooting white men. Sephus asks the blacks and the Italians to leave since the visitors are not on board with the plan to start shooting. 

Hickey and Griggs drive into the workers’ camp which has been set up since the men on strike have been evicted from company housing. They have armed men with them, which Hickey says, with that false, nasty smile, didn’t get sleep last night. He is all but admitting that his men were the ones that fired their guns into the camp. To add pressure onto this boiling situation, Hickey says that the families took company goods with them and have to return them. They can’t buy anything with script since it was invalidated once they were on strike. Hillard, Mrs. Elkins’s son, comes forward and says Hickey has no legal rights. Hickey’s defiance against anything that is legal and just is exhibited when he punches Hillard and kicks him. Joe, trying to bring logic to a gunfight, says if there is no list of goods that belonged to the company, Hickey and Griggs don’t know what belongs to whom. Hickey and Griggs approach Joe, who says that he is unarmed and everyone there will testify that it’s murder if they shoot him. Hickey tries to assault Joe, who pushes back, but Griggs floors him with a jab. They pull out their guns, but “hill” men appear with rifles. Their leader says that the Baldwin-Felts men and their car scared the game they were hunting, so the men should get out. Griggs says they are the law (which is a reprehensible statement given their lack of respect for the legal system or any set of rules). That line doesn’t work here as the “hill” man says the only law is the one of “nature.” At least these people adhere to some type of code. Hickey knows how dangerous these guys are and says to Griggs that they should get out of there. After they leave, the rescuers tell the workers to keep the noise down, and that the pigs belong to them, but they can have the other game. They may be uncivilized and scary, but they are willing to help since, as Mrs. Elkins points out, they, too, have been victimized by the company that has seized much of their land. It is interesting that these “hill” people fought the union in the Civil War and now are helping a different kind of union. The story indicates that the battle against tyranny joins people of all sorts together.

Joe must have heard about the locals planning an attack but when he bangs on the door of Lively’s place, he gets no answer. Lively is inside telling Danny how to light the fuse on a pipe bomb, and he tells the boy to drop it down one of the shafts. It is upsetting to see the man use someone so young to do his dirty work. The scene shifts to the dinner table at Elma’s. Hickey and Griggs look menacing even when they eat. Hickey puts on his fake smile wondering where the other diners are. Elma says they are “particular” with whom they eat and starts to say if the place wasn’t owned by the company she wouldn't be there, either. But, the despicable Griggs interrupts her by saying she would be selling herself as a whore if it weren’t for Stone Mountain. After Hickey asks where Danny is, Elma silently gets up and leaves. In an extremely ironic line, the barbaric Griggs says, “Ain’t you got no table manners?”

Elma sits on the porch and is joined by Joe, as they both wonder where everybody is, and Joe implies something is up because nobody told him anything. Elma starts to sob as she relates how she has been constantly working after her husband died. Joe offers empathy by saying how difficult it is to be on one’s own. But, Elma, who has no union to back up being a woman in her situation, tells him he really doesn't know what it’s like for her. Then the bomb goes off, and Hickey and Griggs run out, saying they are “in business,” like they expected the explosion. They drive through town with several armed men, as Hatfield grins and says the comic understatement, “Might be some shootin.’” 

The local men are in the woods above the mine setting up what they believe is an ambush of the company’s men drawn there by the bomb. But they are the ones ambushed as Hickey, Griggs, and the others approach from a higher spot and start firing at the workers. Sephus is wounded, but hides near a fallen tree trunk as Griggs finds Lively who Sephus, and we, now see has been working for the company to incite the townspeople and give the company the excuse to use force in retaliation. Rosaria now helps Mrs. Elkins treat a leg wound, as they collaborate when attacked by a common enemy. The miners realize that the company thugs knew where they would be waiting, so they suspect a spy. Lively shows up at the tent after Joe has entered, and the traitor acts as if he is concerned about the casualties. Joe angrily reminds them that their violence harms themselves. But the wounded man acts just like the company wants, as he blames the blacks and the Italians for not being there to back them up.

The bleeding Sephus is found by a man and woman in the hills. The other workers look for hurt men and find a dead miner shot by the Baldwin-Felts agents. Lively, trying to sow seeds of discontent, says to Joe that he has his “martyr,” which is unfair as Joe says he tried to prevent the confrontation. Lively also works on dividing the townspeople by intercepting a love letter which Bridey Mae sent to Joe and then telling her that Joe exposed its comments and slandered her to humiliate Bridey Mae. He wants to frame Joe as the culprit when he tells her he believes Joe is a spy for the company. He persuades her to lie to the other miners by saying Joe raped her. Lively shows the workers a fake piece of evidence he says he found in Bridey Mae’s place that links Joe to the Baldwin-Felts agency. 

Danny brings towels to Hickey’s room and handles the man’s pistol. The image suggests how the company’s actions and the violence perpetrated by its agents have corrupted the innocence of the boy. He hears Hickey and Griggs coming and hides in the closet. He overhears Hickey telling Griggs how Joe will be killed based on Lively’s actions. But, he realizes his gun has been moved and finds Danny in the closet. He shows the young man a military decoration awarded him after he bayoneted several Germans in a WWI foxhole. The story lets Danny know that if the boy says anything, Hickey is very capable of killing him and his mother. The scene also shows how someone who was recognized as being a hero in war can also be a murderer in peacetime; thus, violence let loose takes its toll no matter the cause.

Johnson draws the short straw to kill Joe, after which Lively says to the man, “Welcome to the union.” Because of the person making this statement and the action assigned, we have a perversion of the union’s stance for positive cooperation. Johnson sits with Joe telling him that he’s supposed to stand guard over him if the Baldwin-Felts people come to kill him. At dinner time at the boarding house, Hickey and Griggs get drunk and use their leverage over Danny to mock the boy, his religion, and where he lives by saying that they know about hell since they are in West Virginia. They derisively sing a hymn about the “blood of the lamb.” There is a quick segue to an actual church service where the same song is sung and which shows the sincerity of the community’s devotion. But, ironically, among those in attendance are the inebriated, laughing Hickey and Griggs along with workers who have decided on ending Joe’s life. Their presence desecrates the faith of the other church members. The “blood of the lamb” refers to the sacrifice of Jesus Christ for others, and thus, those that suffer for the sake of the workers and their families are likened to Christ figures in this tale. 

Sephus, convalescing in a bed at the home of the people who rescued him, tries to get up and tell the truth to the miners. But his wound is severe. Back in camp, we learn that Johnson fought at San Juan Hill. So, he too, is a war hero of sorts, but he contrasts in temperament with Hickey, who has made violence a way of life. Joe admits to being a “Red,” or communist, but jokes about how his type doesn’t use guns but only “little round bombs.” The thrust here is to dismiss stereotypes about people, which Johnson can identify with. He tells Johnson of Mennonites jailed because they were pacifists and refused to serve in the military during the war. They also did not wear any decorative clothing and took the buttons off of their prison uniforms. They were handcuffed above their heads and made to hang so that their hands bled and became useless. Joe says that they carried no weapons into battle and still showed immense bravery. Joe’s story exalts nonviolence above man’s baser, destructive tendencies.

We again have the back and forth between the religious and secular story lines as there is a shift to the church where Danny is preaching about Joseph and his coat of many colors. His story includes the presence of spies and a plot to frame Joseph by making it appear that he was involved with a woman of loose morality. Joseph was unjustly killed. Danny is trying to get his point across, as Jesus did, through a parable. Danny ends his sermon by saying, “Draw your own conclusions.” Lively is there, and he is not drunk, and he and some of the men present get the point. Lively leaves and escapes by swimming across the river. The miners get word to the conflicted Johnson that Joe was framed. He is very relieved that he can let Joe live. Sephus has come back to town and sets fire to Lively’s place. The miners now know of Lively’s duplicity. 

The elderly narrator returns saying how Joe’s innocence made him into a powerful force, most likely because the miners felt guilty about being manipulated into thinking he was a conspirator. Joe and Danny now preach the union gospel around the area. The union men, including the blacks and the Italians, bond together, playing baseball. When Joe has a catch with Danny, the young man asks if Joe ever killed anyone. Joe says he saw the futility of working people killing other workers and he went to prison because he refused to be sent to war by rich men and politicians, which is consistent with his beliefs that the powerful exploit common folk. Mrs. Elkins now brings food to Rosaria to help feed the Italian children, saying they are “all in it together,” which is what Joe has been saying.

Danny and Hillard try to poach some coal for the camp, but they are spotted. Danny hides under a railway car, but Hillard is caught. Hickey beats him and asks him to divulge the names of five union members. Lively is now with the Baldwin-Felts men. Griggs says he will kill Hillard unless he talks. Griggs fires bullets all around the man’s head. He cuts Hillard’s throat superficially, and Hillard gives them names. Griggs kills him by cutting his throat deeper. Lively says the names Hillard gave were of dead men who died on the job. The film shows us here one of those unselfish sacrifices made for the greater good. Danny later walks into the camp with Hatfield carrying Hillard’s body as the boy’s mother, Mrs. Elkins, cries. Joe looks devastated, and the men look at him accusingly, seeing the price that is being paid for Joe’s secular crusade. 

Baldwin-Felts reinforcements arrive telling Hatfield they are there to evict union workers off of Stone Mountain land, and they tell the mayor and Hatfield they won’t tolerate interference. The tobacco-chewing police chief spits, probably showing his disgust for these outsiders. After they move on Hatfield smiles to lessen the impact of his words, which are, “They’ve come to kill me.” His words about death connect to the shift to the graveside ceremony of Hillard. Danny does the eulogy, and he refutes the idea that God plans everything, including the death of the young Hillard. Instead he states a principle of deism by saying that God created everything and then, “we take it from there.” Thus, he places the blame for Hillard’s death on the actions of people. Sephus sarcastically asks Joe if he wants them to be as forgiving as Jesus and “turn the other cheek” to their enemies. Joe is Gandhi-like in saying that the company wants violence, so the point is don’t give in to their wants. But Sephus says that lethal force may be what the workers want now, as they may desire revenge. Sephus sees Joe’s desire for a union of workers that stretches far and wide as dwarfing the needs of what happens in this small community. Joe still asks for a meeting in the morning with the workers to prevent the fighting, A mournful song follows that ominously tells of the “gathering storm.”

The proverbial calm before that storm is depicted as the locals ready for what's to come. Danny, the boy of God. becomes the man of war. He readies his rifle as Joe visits him in a tent. Joe talks of wanting to help, but Danny is bitter. He says the coal company said they were there to help, but then took their land and impoverished them, making them suffer by getting the coal for them. Now Joe comes offering help, and Hillard won’t be able to see that help. Danny says they’ve had all the “help” they can tolerate. Elma quietly sneaks down the stairway of the boarding house and enters the room where the company assassins sleep, but one is awake, standing guard, and gives Elma a sly smile. The implication is that Elma may have had the elimination of the enemy on her mind. A sad but resigned Hatfield readies his gun for the shooting that will inevitably ensue.

Fausto wakes Joe and tells him that the men have gone to town, which means they had no intention of listening to Joe’s attempt to have them put away their guns. It begins to look like a version of the OK Corral as the company killers advance on the town as the mayor and Hatfield stand in the road. As the mayor protests, guns are drawn and as Joe yells, “No!” guns start blazing. The townspeople are hidden around the main street. There are many casualties. The unarmed mayor takes one in the stomach. Sephus shoots Griggs but is also wounded. Elma finishes off Hickey with rifle shots. Despite his earlier militant stance, Danny holds his fire and lets an unarmed company man escape. Hatfield survives and he surveys the battlefield as the mayor says all he wanted to do “was talk.” But here, guns drowned out words. Mrs. Elkins continues to fire shots into the lifeless body of Griggs for having killed her son, Hillard. Elma kneels (a religious genuflection?) and cries in front of the slain body of Joe who was killed in the crossfire. He may have been a stranger, but he sacrificed his life for the people of Matewan, not by fighting, but by trying to prevent the loss of life.

The camera focuses on Danny who stands near his grieving mother. It is his voice as an old man that is the narrator. The voice-over says that there was a trial for Hatfield, but he was acquitted. The mayor died from his wound. But the never-ending effect of revenge continued later as the cowardly Baldwin-Felts men shot and killed the unarmed Hatfield as he walked up the stairs of a courthouse, a symbolic act of contempt for the law that is supposed to protect citizens. The despicable Lively lived to put a final bullet in Hatfield’s head, and there was no trial for these acts which again stresses how the powerful literally get away with murder. The coal mine wars followed, says the elder Danny, and he says he continued Joe’s quest for the one big union that protected all workers, 

As the narration proceeds, we see a younger Danny walking into the mines to continue the work shared by so many other miners. His older voice says that Joe was buried with the men of the town who were killed as he finally was accepted in death by the people of Matewan.

The next film is Apocalypse Now.