Activist Movies

THE SPIRIT OF ACTIVISM IN FILM

Those of us alarmed by this administration’s recurring mis-steps can take some comfort in our fundamental right to expose and challenge injustice, corruption and bad policy. The importance of that freedom-and our responsibility to exercise it- is engrained in all of us. And it’s not just about free speech, but concerted action to accomplish positive change. Not surprisingly, many outstanding films have shown just what this spirit of activism can achieve.

Great activist movies portray the ongoing struggle between the welfare of working people and the interests of big business, which, as Mr. Abramoff reminds us, are often closely tied to government. These films make inspiring David and Goliath stories, where average citizens take on the fat cats via the press, the courts, or the labor unions.

Case in point: the landmark “Salt Of The Earth” (1954). Filmed independently on a shoestring by blacklisted director Herbert Biberman, it too was blacklisted on release, the only movie in our country’s history to earn that distinction. Using mainly non-actors, “Earth” portrays the indigent lives of workers at a zinc mine in New Mexico, focusing on Ramon and Esperanza Quintero (Juan Chacon and Rosaura Revueltas). When Ramon, backed by the Union of Mine, Mill and Smelter Workers, leads a walk-out against the Empire Zinc Company, reprisals follow. The company eventually produces an injunction forcing the men off the picket line, so their wives step in and take over for them. Shot with a documentary-style immediacy, this historic effort still makes for stark, powerful cinema. ( Note: black-listed actor Will Geer, later Grandpa in “The Waltons”, plays the sheriff).

Fast-forward twenty-five years to Sally Field’s Oscar-winning turn in “Norma Rae”. After hearing New York based union organizer Reuben (Ron Leibman) deliver a speech at the Southern textile mill where she works, Norma Rae (Field) joins the effort to organize workers. Butting heads with management, and alienating husband Sonny (Bridges) with her new activism, Norma Rae evolves from pliant employee to impassioned agitator for workers’ rights. The interplay between Norma Rae and unlikely ally Reuben (Leibman) is interesting to watch, but ultimately it’s the emergence of Norma Rae’s righteous fire that’s most memorable. The diminutive but plucky Field is triumphant in her break-out role.

Director Mike Nichols would bring a chilling true story to life with “Silkwood” (1983), starring the gifted Meryl Streep as Karen Silkwood, an employee at a plutonium plant outraged at her management’s blatant disregard for proper safety procedures, and the resulting risk of radioactive contamination. On her way to meet a journalist in November, 1974, Karen disappeared, never to be seen again. Streep’s nuanced portrayal shows an ordinary woman who, through fate, circumstance and a streak of raw defiance, risks her life to attempt something extraordinary. Kurt Russell executes one of his more interesting roles as Karen’s boyfriend Drew, and the talented Cher sheds all her glamour to play Karen’s lesbian friend Dolly. Director Nichols builds a gradual sense of dread, culminating in a nerve-jangling conclusion. Don’t miss this disturbing cautionary tale.

One of the best films of the 1980’s, John Sayles’s brilliant “Matewan” (1987) takes us back to the 1920s, and the primitive, perilous lives of coal miners in West Virginia. United Mine Workers union rep Joe Kenehan (Chris Cooper) has his hands full organizing this group, as they comprise white, black and Italian factions unaccustomed to interacting outside the pit. Joe’s simple message: there is strength in numbers. Flavorful, meticulous recreation of time and place is enhanced by powerful performances, particularly from Cooper and a majestic James Earl Jones playing a miner called “Few Clothes” Johnson. This may well be Sayles’s finest hour.

Barbara Kopple’s riveting documentary “American Dream”(1989) follows a contentious 1987 meatpackers’ strike at a Hormel plant in Minnesota. In the wake of a proposed pay-cut for doing one of the world’s least pleasant jobs, we witness a torturous, mind-numbing process as organizers struggle to diffuse friction among angry strikers, who differ on what strategy to employ against Hormel. Ultimately the local union rejects the guidance of their national parent and takes on the process themselves, hiring strike “consultant” Ray Rogers to help them. With the director’s fly-on-the-wall approach, we experience all the mounting tension and frustration, as ensuing events seem to call the organizers’ judgment into question. And of course, the price isn’t just wasted resources-there are jobs at stake. Kopple’s unblinking chronicle of this painful, divisive episode reflects documentary-film-making at its very best..

Switching back to feature films, in the fact-based “A Civil Action” (1999) ,John Travolta stars as Jan Schlictmann, a personal injury attorney who pursues a negligence suit against corporate titans W.R Grace and Beatrice Foods. The companies have a joint interest in a leather production facility in Woburn, Massachusetts, whose illegal dumping of toxic waste may have led to the deaths of several local children. Anne Anderson (Kathleen Quinlan), the mother of one victim, decides to sue. Jan immerses himself in this high-stakes battle, wagering everything he has on a positive outcome. Gripping and literate, “Action” features a stellar cast, notably John Lithgow as the trial judge, and Robert Duvall as Jerome Facher, the formidable opposing counsel. This absorbing courtroom drama grabs you by the throat and never lets go.

Finally, don’t miss Ken Loach’s “Bread and Roses” (2000). L.A. organizer Sam Shapiro (Adrien Brody) wants to unionize a local janitorial service, largely comprised of illegal immigrants. Without rights, these workers are regularly abused and mistreated for sub-standard wages. Though Brody excels in the central role, it’s easy to see why he sets his eye on worker Maya (Pilar Padilla), since her radiance jumps off the screen. Maya becomes a key supporter, risking her own position, much to the consternation of sister and fellow employee Rosa (Elpidia Carrillo), who must support a disabled husband and can’t afford to lose her job. The conflict between principle and practical reality is deftly explored by Loach, and we learn again that within such sticky, complex issues lie no easy answers. This intense, authentic depiction of our most vulnerable workers’ struggle for a decent life only underscores the importance of taking a stand, however daunting. As most activists will tell you, accepting the status quo is simply not an option.