Educational Media Reviews Online

Accompanied only by the haunting, somber, and at times climatic original score of Johann Johannsson, this nostalgic documentary feature film from Bill Morrison (Decasia, Release, Outerborough,The Film of Her) tells the story of a bygone era in North East England where coal is king. The film focuses on four former coalmining sites, Ryhope Colliery (1857-1966), Silksworth Colliery (1869-1971), Hylton Colliery (1900-1979) and Monkwearmouth Colliery (1835-1993), and juxtaposes the industrial rural landscape and culture of its heyday versus the modern suburban landscape and culture of today.

Using excellent archival footage, the viewer is drawn into the life of a miner which often begins before sunrise. Thousands of men report to work and exchange an identifier tag for an oil lamp. They then take an elevator deep into the earth, and shortly thereafter mount a cargo train to transport them closer to the mine’s entrance. The men dismount and oftentimes have to wrangle through crawlspaces, and work within unhealthy constricted areas for extended hours each day. The film shows the backbreaking work of the men, and the sophisticated machinery used to loosen and sheath the coal from the mine to the outer landfills. Mining is clearly a laborious and dangerous job, and cannot be done by machine alone. In addition to the work done by the men in the mine, the local villagers also spend a great deal of time sifting through rocks at the coastline in search of coal. Perhaps the coal is gathered for personal use, sold back to the company, or a combination of the two.

However, by the late 1950s and 1960s the world is on the cusp of change. It is during this era that there is a shift in politics, popular culture, and business. The need for coal is on the decline as factories now favor a cheaper product, crude oil. This shift in dynamics and economics has catastrophic results for thousands of families and hundreds of villages which prompt numerous strikes and protests. Unfortunately, the strikes and protests yield little results, and more and more collieries are forced to close.

The film includes archival footage of the miners and their families, parades and pageantry, the blessing of the miners’ banners, and eventual civil unrest. The technical aspects of the film are good, but it is undeniably the music, composed by Johann Johannsson, that tells the story of the rise and fall of the mining industry--a story of thousands of brave and heroic men who toiled the mine shafts up until its eventual economic demise.

This powerful film will provide excellent discussion about European studies and the labor movement in North East England. I highly recommend this title for jr. high, public, and academic library media collections.