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Matewan (1987)

Directed by John Sayles · Cinematography by Haskell Wexler

PG-13135 min47 frames

DramaHistory

It takes more than guns to kill a man.

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Stills, screencaps & shots from Matewan

16 of 47 frames — the full set is searchable by lighting, lens, shot size, color and mood with a free account.

Matewan (1987) movie still: closeup — A dimly lit room with dark walls and subtle wallpaper patterns in the background. A woman sits in the…Matewan (1987) movie still: medium — A dark wooden room features a small pulpit against a paneled wall with an artwork. A young man stands behind…Matewan (1987) movie still: medium — A dark, rustic interior features a young woman writing at a wooden surface. A lit oil lamp sits in the…Matewan (1987) movie still: wide — A rural wooden train station platform features a weathered building with a name sign. A man with a suitcase waits…Matewan (1987) movie still: medium — A dark dining room with patterned wallpaper and a central multi-bulb chandelier. Four people are seated at a…Matewan (1987) movie still: medium — A dark office features a mahogany desk cluttered with old documents and gun cleaning supplies. A man in a vest…Matewan (1987) movie still: medium — A dimly lit canvas tent contains two men sitting together in the dark. One man plays a small musical instrument…Matewan (1987) movie still: closeup — A woman stands in a dark room with minimal background detail visible. The subject stares downward with a…Matewan (1987) movie still: medium — A dimly lit room filled with men sitting in a semi-circle during the 1920s. The main subject in a newsboy cap…Matewan (1987) movie still: medium — Three men play instruments at a dark encampment next to a fabric tent. The musicians perform folk music…Matewan (1987) movie still: wide — A dark, narrow underground passage with damp, textured walls and visible structural supports. A single person…Matewan (1987) movie still: medium — A dimly lit room with blue-painted walls features shelves filled with miscellaneous store goods. A man speaks…Matewan (1987) movie still: closeup — A thick, weathered tree trunk features a freshly cut, light-colored wooden notch. Out-of-focus green foliage…Matewan (1987) movie still: medium — A wooden train station wall features a painted black passenger train bulletin board. A man in a dark wool suit…Matewan (1987) movie still: medium — A dimly lit room filled with men sitting in rows on wooden chairs and benches. The men watch an unseen speaker…Matewan (1987) movie still: medium — Two men wearing fedoras stand inside a dark, wooden-reinforced military trench at night. They operate weapons…
Matewan (1987) — © Cinecom Entertainment Group, Film Gallery

Matewan — official trailer

What is Matewan about?

Filmed in the coal country of West Virginia, "Matewan" celebrates labor organizing in the context of a 1920s work stoppage. Union organizer, Joe Kenehan, a scab named "Few Clothes" Johnson and a sympathetic mayor and police chief heroically fight the power represented by a coal company and Matewan's vested interests so that justice and workers' rights need not take a back seat to squalid working conditions, exploitation and the bottom line.

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

Second paragraph from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Who stars in Matewan?

Who made Matewan?

What does the cinematography of Matewan look like?

Sampled across 46 frames, the coverage of Matewan leans on medium shots (70% of the sample) and close-ups (17%). Cinematographer Haskell Wexler keeps 76% of it in soft, low-key light. Night and dusk account for 74% of the frames. Focus stays shallow in 72% of the frames, isolating subjects from their surroundings.

What is the color palette of Matewan?

The dominant colors across the sampled frames of Matewan (1987) are #302e2c, #171514, #463831, #55504b, #a89b8e, #241b18 — measured from the per-frame color data FrameThrower extracts for every film.

  • #302e2c
  • #171514
  • #463831
  • #55504b
  • #a89b8e
  • #241b18

See the full Matewan colour palette — every hex with its share, plus warmth, saturation and luminance.

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Techniques in this film

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Cast, trailer and streaming data from TMDB. This product uses the TMDB API but is not endorsed or certified by TMDB.