Winona Ryder’s Favorite Movie, Unseen in Theaters for 38 Years, Tops Her List!

A great video format developed by our colleagues at Konbini, the Video Club has become an almost mandatory stop for nearly all film talents during promotional periods. However, the media did not exactly invent the concept, which originated with the American publisher Criterion, specializing in the physical media release of films from the global cinematic heritage. In essence, it’s the cinematic equivalent of the prestigious Pléiade collection. A true dream for cinephiles and collectors.

In their renowned Criterion Closet, a sort of treasure trove, talents from around the world parade through, filling their bags with films from the shelves, each time explaining their personal connection and why they appreciate the selected film. Although much shorter than Konbini’s video-club, the Criterion Closet remains a delight to watch.

In August 2024, actress Winona Ryder made a visit. “I feel like I’m in a church, my church!” she exclaimed excitedly at the start. Her eclectic picks included masterpieces like Louis Malle’s Au Revoir les enfants; the rare Paths of Glory by Gordon Parks; a box set of John Cassavetes’ works; Jim Jarmusch’s Ghost Dog; and a classic comedy, Lost in America by Albert Brooks.

At the very top of her cinematic favorites, Winona Ryder places After Life by Hirokazu Kore-eda and another masterpiece, unfortunately never released in theaters in France, though it has been screened at the cinematheque: Matewan by John Sayles.

A Rare Film on a Tragic Chapter in American History

Actor (notably seen in Spike Lee’s Malcolm X), screenwriter (credited with the script for Joe Dante’s brilliant The Howling), and director, John Sayles has always maintained a unique approach throughout his career, fiercely preserving his artistic independence… and facing the financial challenges that often accompany it.

A rather rare and relatively unknown director in France, his last major success came in 1996 with his impressive film Lone Star, in which a sheriff attempts to solve a murder 37 years after the fact. That’s certainly a strong recommendation.

But the focus here is primarily on a very rare work released in 1987: Matewan. A colossal flop at the box office, it was presented at the Directors’ Fortnight during the Cannes Film Festival in 1987, and was eventually released in a stunning Blu-ray edition by Intersections Films in February 2024.

An ideal continuation of Martin Ritt’s great film The Molly Maguires (in which Sean Connery delivers one of his finest performances), Matewan shares the depiction of the harsh living conditions of miners in the early 20th century in the United States.

Based on a true story, Matewan unfolds its plot in May 1920, in Mingo County, West Virginia. A team from the Baldwin-Felts Detective Agency arrives by train in the morning to evict miner families living on the outskirts of the Stone Mountain Coal Camp, the mining site.

These grim enforcers, hired by the company exploiting the poorly paid miners, encounter Sid Hatfield, the town’s sheriff. A local and sympathizer of the miners’ demands from the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA), established in the coal mines of southern West Virginia, Hatfield steps in during an escalation of violence that culminates in what became known as “the Battle of Matewan.”

This dreadful precursor later led to a general uprising of the region’s miners in 1921; during which an army of 10,000 miners opposed 3,000 lawmen, strikebreakers, and soldiers. Known as “the Battle of Blair Mountain,” it was the largest labor uprising in U.S. history and the largest armed uprising since the Civil War. Its social and political significance cannot be overstated.

In the film, under the portrayal of Joe Kenehan, the union organizer sent by the UMWA to unite the miners, the always solid Chris Cooper made his screen debut. He is supported by a sensational cast including James Earl Jones, Mary McDonnell, Bob Gunton (remember, the sadistic warden of Shawshank Prison in The Shawshank Redemption), and an outstanding David Strathairn, who was notably seen in the multi-Oscar-winning Nomadland. In Matewan, Strathairn plays Sheriff Hatfield.

Enhanced by beautiful cinematography by the greatly acclaimed Haskell Wexler – a two-time Oscar winner, who boasts films like One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, The Conversation, In the Heat of the Night, and Bound for Glory on his resume – filmed for less than $4 million over seven weeks, politically charged, Matewan is a powerful and moving film, as rare as it is valuable. An essential testament to the bloody history of American workers’ and laborers’ struggle for their rights.