“THERE were two “Reigns of Terror,” if we would but remember it and consider it; the one wrought murder in hot passion, the other in heartless cold blood; the one lasted mere months, the other had lasted a thousand years; the one inflicted death upon ten thousand persons, the other upon a hundred millions; but our shudders are all for the “horrors” of the minor Terror, the momentary Terror, so to speak; whereas, what is the horror of swift death by the axe, compared with lifelong death from hunger, cold, insult, cruelty, and heart-break? What is swift death by lightning compared with death by slow fire at the stake? A city cemetery could contain the coffins filled by that brief Terror which we have all been so diligently taught to shiver at and mourn over; but all France could hardly contain the coffins filled by that older and real Terror—that unspeakably bitter and awful Terror which none of us has been taught to see in its vastness or pity as it deserves.” - Mark Twain
I wrote a whole review and then realised Twain said it better ages ago. What applies to the French Revolution applies to the West Virginian mine wars; there is no world in which I find violence by the miners more appalling than by what the companies did, especially not when the companies hired private planes to bomb and gas the miners at Blair Mountain.
Really good, beautiful movie with James Earl Jones being severely underutilised
Also, the tagline for this movie comes from the song about Joe Hill, which you can hear Joan Baez perform in full here: youtu.be/99jMOkGL1dE?si=CH6-0E0fX8hE5RTD
Also also, this is one of Winona Ryder's favourite films, which is very important to note
“THERE were two “Reigns of Terror,” if we would but remember it and consider it; the one wrought murder in hot passion, the other in heartless cold blood; the one lasted mere months, the other had lasted a thousand years; the one inflicted death upon ten thousand persons, the other upon a hundred millions; but our shudders are all for the “horrors” of the minor Terror, the momentary Terror, so to speak; whereas, what is the horror of swift death by the axe, compared with lifelong death from hunger, cold, insult, cruelty, and heart-break? What is swift death by lightning compared with death by slow fire at the stake? A city cemetery could contain the coffins filled by that brief Terror which we have all been so diligently taught to shiver at and mourn over; but all France could hardly contain the coffins filled by that older and real Terror—that unspeakably bitter and awful Terror which none of us has been taught to see in its vastness or pity as it deserves.” - Mark Twain
I wrote a whole review and then realised Twain said it better ages ago. What applies to the French Revolution applies to the West Virginian mine wars; there is no world in which I find violence by the miners more appalling than by what the companies did, especially not when the companies hired private planes to bomb and gas the miners at Blair Mountain.
Really good, beautiful movie with James Earl Jones being severely underutilised
Also, the tagline for this movie comes from the song about Joe Hill, which you can hear Joan Baez perform in full here: youtu.be/99jMOkGL1dE?si=CH6-0E0fX8hE5RTD
Also also, this is one of Winona Ryder's favourite films, which is very important to note
