If you have watched the seminal 1973 American documentary “Harlan County” about a coal miner’s strike in Harlan County, Kentucky you know coal miners are a tough and proud lot and mine owners are ruthlessly if not murderously driven by profits. In “Devil Put the Coal in the Ground” about coal mining in West Virgina you witness the toughness of coal miners of yesterday but today they are a dying breed as coal is a dirty word and mountain blasting has eclipsed the need for coal mines and of coal miners.
The documentary commences with a clip of a 1987 movie “Matewan” where a coal miner says there are two people: those with jobs and those without. Fast forward to the present day where an interviewee says you are either a coal miner or a drug addict. West Virginia has the greatest number of opiate addicts, opiate deaths and opiate overdoses of any state in the United States. A local judge notes that in a day with 40 cases before him 35 will deal with drug offences and the others are related to the downturn of the coal industry. Opiate use can start at 11 or 12 years of age and hook mothers and fathers and even grandparents.
In the documentary lawyers, coal miners, an opiate addict, a nurse, a doctor, an activist, a pawn shop owner, a politician, a Vietnam war veteran and a mother who is an activist and has an opiate addicted son she can’t trust for a moment all talk about coal, its fall from grace and the destruction it has caused. Most of them are shattered by opiate related deaths and coal related diseases in their families.
All of the commentators, while mindful of the rough life of coal miners, proudly recount their wonderful childhoods and strong sense of community that began to fall apart in the 1970’s with the death throes of coal mining. Without a strong social fabric and the loss of hope for a relatively secure life coal mining afforded communities crumbled, families were shattered and opiate use soared often fuelled by company doctors to get injured workers back to the mine to avoid threats of fines for safety violations. The message is that while coal miners endured a tough life coal mining paid relatively well and could support communities.
As coal mining disappears mountain blasting thrives with devastating ecological and health effects. It is an attractive practice for coal mines are no longer required and the state grants permits desperate to compensate for loss of coal mining jobs and possibly turns a lax eye to mountain blasting.
Coal has always been a dirty business but it offered a decent standard of living and fostered a strong community. Coal has now become a dirtier business destroying communities economically and spiritually. The devil’s work a la “Master and Margarita”.
You can watch the trailer here https://vimeo.com/452308181
It is directed by Lucas Sabean and Peter Hutchison and will be on streaming platforms and VOD on 9July2024.
RKS 2024 Film Rating 96/100.
A Bird's Eye View of Fashion, Food, Travel, Culture, Beverage and Curiosity 