Matewan / Cinecom Entertainment Group and Film Gallery in association with Goldcrest present a Red Dog Films production ; produced by Peggy Rajski and Maggie Renzi ; written and directed by John Sayles.

Uniform title
Format
Video/Projected medium
Language
English
Εdition
Director-approved two-DVD special edition.
Published/​Created
  • [New York, N.Y.] : The Criterion Collection, [2019]
  • ©2019
Description
2 videodiscs (133 min.) : sound, color ; 4 3/4 in. + 1 pamphlet (1 page : color illustrations ; folded to 17 cm.)

Details

Subject(s)
Screenwriter
Film director
Film producer
Actor
Composer (expression
Costume designer
Production designer
Editor of moving image work
Director of photography
Art director
Presenter
Production company
Publisher
Library of Congress genre(s)
Series
Medium/​Support
  • 4 3/4 in.
  • polychrome rdacc
  • color
  • stamping rdapm
Summary note
"Written and directed by John Sayles, this wrenching historical drama recounts the true story of a West Virginia coal town where the local miners' struggle to form a union rose to the pitch of all-out war in 1920. When Matewan's miners go on strike, organizer Joe Kenehan (Chris Cooper, in his film debut), arrives to help them, uniting workers white and black, Appalachia-born and immigrant, while urging patience in the face of the coal company's violent provocations. With a crackerjack ensemble cast--including James Earl Jones, David Strathairn, Mary McDonnell, and Will Oldham--and Oscar-nominated cinematography by Haskell Wexler, Matewan taps into a rich vein of Americana with painstaking attention to local texture, issuing an impassioned cry for justice that still resounds today"--Container.
Notes
  • Title and credits from screen.
  • Originally produced as a motion picture in 1987.
  • Wide screen (1.85:1).
  • Features: New 4k digital restoration, supervised by director John Sayles; Audio commentary from 2013 featuring Sayles and cinematographer Haskell Wexler; Two new documentaries on making of the film featuring Sayles, producer Maggie Renzi, production designer Nora Chavooshian, and actors Chris Cooper, James Earl Jones, Mary McDonnell, Will Oldham, and David Strathairn; New interview with composer Mason Daring; Short documentary on the impact that Matewan's production had on West Virginia; New program on the film's production design featuring Chavooshian; Trailer; An essay by critic A.S. Hamrah.
Creation/​Production credits
Music, Mason Daring ; costume designer, Cynthia Flynt ; production designer, Nora Chavooshian ; editor, Sonya Polonsky ; director of photography, Haskell Wexler ; art director, Dan Bishop.
Target audience
Rating: PG-13.
System details
DVD, NTSC, region 1; wide screen (1.85:1 aspect ratio), Dolby monaural.
Participant(s)/​Performer(s)
Chris Cooper, Mary McDonnell, Will Oldham, David Strathairn, Ken Jenkins, Kevin Tighe, Gordon Clapp, Bob Gunton, Jace Alexander, Joe Grifasi, Nancy Mette, Jo Henderson, Josh Mostel, Gary McCleery, Maggie Renzi, Tom Wright, Michael Preston, Tom Carlin, Jenni Cline, Michael A. Mantel, James Earl Jones.
Language note
In English with optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing (SDH). Closed-captioned.
Contents
  • disc one. [Feature film]; trailer
  • disc two. [Special edition features].
ISBN
  • 9781681436531
  • 1681436531
Publisher no.
CC3081D
OCLC
1117308413
Universal Product Code
  • 715515236119
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