This is Niki Caro’s first movie since Whale Rider. Based on a recent interview in Guardian, she got offered a LOT of projects on the back of her success with Whale Rider. She adds: “Admittedly many of them involved large mammals and small girls.”
Makes you think twice about making a breakthrough genre flick. You’ll be haunted with clones of your one hit for the rest of your life. She goes on:
No, really, they did. And I actually considered one very seriously, I should also say. So I was thrilled when this one [North Country] came along. It was a script that really shocked me, because it’s real and it’s recent. This case wasn’t settled until 1998.
Whale Rider puts North Country in perspective. I had a problem with its slow pace and redundant reaction shot sequences. My photography professor, however, used to say: “underexpose or overexpose, it doesn’t matter as long as it’s consistent. You call this style.” I guess this is Niki Caro’s style and I’ll have to live with it.
The story (inspired by a true one) takes place in a mine town in Minnesota. Essencially, it’s the struggle of a single mother, Josey Aimes (Charlize Theron), who fights a corporate behemoth (a mine).
In the opening scene, we see Josey being hit. We find out later that this was her husband and that this isn’t the first time he’s laid a hand on her. Even at this point, we know who’s the victim and who’s the villain in this movie. The Palestinian assassins in Munich had more human sides than most of the men in North Country.
Josey gets her two kids goes back to her parents. Her father has been working in a mine all his life, her mother is a housekeeper. She ends up working in mine as well (she can make six times more as a miner). She’s subjected to constant verbal abuse and so are her female colleagues.
Finally, when she’s assualted physically by a “fellow” miner (and high-school friend too), she decides she’s had enough. She quits and decides to sue company for ignoring the issue for too long.
The performances are very good (Charlize Theron and Frances McDormand already got an Oscar nod). Most of the family scenes ring true. The court scenes, however, are very weak and since they provide transitions and generally hold the film together, the whole movie suffers. The ending itself (which I won’t reveal) suffers from the same flaws, so I felt a bit disappointed.
Note: Similarly to Whale Hunter, this movie has a strong political message. It was produced by Jeff Skoll’s Participant Productions. Jeff Skoll is eBay’s ex-president who took it upon himself to fund movies that tackle important issues: Syriana, Good Night, and Good Luck, and Murderball.
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