North Country Film Analysis - Essay Example

North Country Film Analysis North Country was, unarguably, one of the best films released in 2005. It was a story about a woman, Josey Aimes, who, inher desire to secure a good life for her children, opted to work as a miner because it was the only viable job available in town that could help her with her dreams. The film was based on the story of Lois Jenson, a miner who has filed the very first class-action lawsuit for sexual harassment case in the United States, as she worked in a Minnesota mining company. For critics, the film revealed the yet again excellent performance delivered by Charlize Theron for the lead. However, an underlying issue in this positive feedback was the equally superb characterization of the other roles, which highlighted the value of the Josey Aimes character. One of the most important of these supporting roles was the character played by Frances McDormand, Glory Dodge. She was Aimes’ best friend and that she was the one who encouraged Josey to work on the mines. In perhaps the best description of Glory, Kyle spoke on her behalf and declared: “My name is Glory Dodge and I’m not fucking dead yet. I stand with Josey.” Through the other characters, Theron was able to deliver and demonstrate what was called for by her role. There was a requirement to give the character as well as the narrative the compelling human detail. Through Dodge, for example, the director and storyteller were able to depict a believable Josey, one who just wanted a house of her own, sufficient meals and clothes for her children and just enough extra dollars so she could buy her son hockey skates once in a while. Dodge played the proverbial best friend, who was there to highlight the need, frustrations and longings of the leading character. In many instances, she offered the ways out of the mess for Josey. Concerning the mine, it was Glory who told Josey about the mine, about how working for it could mean a decent life for her family. Dodge, besides playing the part of the best friend – the person who is there to help, cheer, scold and be nice to Josey – also reinforced Aimes’ experience as a woman miner. Like Josey, she was a miner and had been subjected to such workplace vicissitudes including being sexually harassed, discriminated upon and treated as someone inferior simply because of her gender. Glory warned that Josey have to be tough and that she should learn to get right back to the men and not to show that her experiences get to her. What is interesting here is that Dodge offered an alternative approach in dealing with Josey’s dilemma. It came with the personality and characterization. Dodge, along with the few other women who worked in the mines started to resent Josey for speaking up, filing a complaint and stirring up the status quo, if you may. Each of these women seemed to have come to terms with how they were being treated by the men at work. One of the most crucial moments in the film’s narrative was when Josey turned to these women for help but was immediately resented and shunned. At one point, one woman stressed: “These are our lives you are screwing with.” Nick Caro, the director, commented on this aspect in one of his interviews. To quote: This isn’t a story in which all the men are evil and all the women are good because I know that’s not the case; that would be a huge disservice to the complexities of human relationships. (CinemaReview 2010) Caro’s point is that there are times when both men and women behave in a very cruel and appalling ways, particularly, in their capacity in showing great compassion. Dodge represented much of what the other women in the story were. They were afraid to speak because there’s always the fear of losing the job, of being oppressed even more for speaking up, and even from the guilt that came with being constantly reminded that women were taking away the men’s job and opportunities at the mines, and so forth. Dodge was afraid for her sake and so, even though, she somehow agreed with Josey in her cause, or at least she believed in her right to speak against being sexually harassed, her fear complicated everything. There was a point when her relationship with Josey became strained because of such reason. As mentioned previously, Dodge warned Josey to be tough but at the same time admonished her to just take everything in and pretend things were fine. Dodge’s relationship with Josey, as her best friend, also made matters worse for her. As Josey pursued her battle and the miners resented her, Dodge was at the receiving end of the antagonism. As the person closest to Josey and as a woman herself, miners viewed her as Josey’s surrogate. And so, one couldn’t really blame Dodge for acting the way she did during Josey’s entire ordeal. She has her own troubles to think about and, in a way, she was responding to the situation in the same way Josey reacted when faced with the financial difficulties that forced her to work in the mines. She was merely doing what she thought was the best for her and her family, as well as her retaining her job. One must remember that Josey did relent on working in the mines once she learned that earning big money is possible even to the point that she could already afford to buy her own house for her and the kids. For Dodge, it was enduring the years trying to be tough, to be one of the boys and ignore different kinds of oppression and harassment. All in all, Dodge, like Josey, was a very human character. There was no hint of melodrama in the way she was depicted. As a support to the lead role, the character was successful in highlighting both the good and the bad not just in Josey Aimes but in everyone, in general. For Josey, her character, her actions and motivations in the story was linked to her working on the mines itself. For Glory Dodge, it was deeper than that because her character was all about adaptation. Works Cited Cinema Review. North Country. Cinema Review. 2010. Retrieved 14 May 2010 http://www.cinemareview.com/production.asp?prodid=3149 North Country. Dir. Niki Caro. Perf. Charlize Theron. DVD. Warner Borthers Pictures, 2005. DVD. Read More