Matewan

Matewan
Theatrical release poster
Directed byJohn Sayles
Written byJohn Sayles
Produced byPeggy Rajski
Maggie Renzi
Starring
CinematographyHaskell Wexler
Edited bySonya Polonsky
Music byMason Daring
Distributed byCinecom Pictures
Release date
  • August 28, 1987 (1987-08-28) (United States)
Running time
132 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$4 million
(estimated)[1]
Box officeunder $2 million (US)[1]

Matewan (/ˈmtwɒn/) is a 1987 American independent[2][3] drama film written and directed by John Sayles, and starring Chris Cooper (in his film debut), James Earl Jones, Mary McDonnell and Will Oldham, with David Strathairn, Kevin Tighe and Gordon Clapp in supporting roles.[4] The film dramatizes the events of the Battle of Matewan, a coal miners' strike in 1920 in Matewan, a small town in the hills of West Virginia.

Matewan was a critical success but a box office flop, grossing under $2 million on an estimated $4 million budget. The film received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Cinematography, and received a Criterion Collection re-release in 2019.[5]

  1. ^ a b Gerry Molyneaux, John Sayles, Renaissance Books, 2000 p 155.
  2. ^ The 50 Greatest American Independent Movies|Movies|Empire
  3. ^ The Best Indie Movie of Every Year in the 80s - MovieWeb
  4. ^ "Matewan". AFI Catalog of Feature Films. Retrieved February 23, 2022.
  5. ^ Lund, Carson (November 19, 2019). "Blu-ray Review: John Sayles's Matewan on the Criterion Collection". Slant Magazine. Retrieved August 9, 2020.